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•
1949
J. V. STALIN
FROM MARX
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TO MAO
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1 9 5 4
CONTENTS
FROM MARX
TO MAO
Preface .
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XIII
REPLY TO THE DISCUSSION ON THE POLITICAL
REPORT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE TO
THE SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE C.P.S.U.(B.),
July 2, 1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
LETTER TO COMRADE SHATUNOVSKY .
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NOT FOR
TO COMRADE DEMYAN BEDNY. (Excerpts from a Letter)
ANTI-SEMITISM.
Reply to an Inquiry of the Jewish News
COMMERCIAL
Agency in the United States . . . . . . . . . .
LETTERS TO COMRADE CH. .
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THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES. Speech Delivered at the First All-Union Conference of Leading Personnel of Socialist Industry, February 4, 1931 . . . .
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GREETINGS TO THE STAFFS OF AZNEFT AND GROZNEFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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MAGNITOGORSK IRON AND STEEL WORKS PROJECT,
MAGNITOGORSK . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TO THE CHAIRMAN OF
UNION CENTRE OF
STATIONS. TO ALL
STATIONS . . . .
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DISTRIBUTION
LETTER TO COMRADE ETCHIN .
TO ELEKTROZAVOD .
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THE BOARD OF THE ALLMACHINE AND TRACTOR
MACHINE AND TRACTOR
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VIII
CONTENTS
TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GRAIN TRUST BOARD.
TO ALL STATE GRAIN FARMS . . . . . . .
52
NEW CONDITIONS—NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION. Speech Delivered at a Conference of Business Executives, June 23, 1931 . . . . . . . .
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I. Manpower .
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III. The Organisation of Work .
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IV. A Working-Class Industrial and Technical Intelligentsia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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V. Signs of a Change of Attitude among the Old Industrial and Technical Intelligentsia . . . . .
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II. Wages
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VI. Business Accounting
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VII. New Methods of Work, New Methods of Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TO THE WORKERS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AND
TECHNICAL PERSONNEL OF AMO . . . . .
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TO THE WORKERS AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND
TECHNICAL PERSONNEL OF THE KHARKOV
TRACTOR WORKS PROJECT . . . . . . . .
84
TO THE NEWSPAPER TEKHNIKA .
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85
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF
BOLSHEVISM. Letter to the Editorial Board of the
Magazine “Proletarskaya Revolutsia” . . . . . .
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AUTOMOBILE WORKS, NIZHNI-NOVGOROD .
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105
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG,
December 13, 1931 . . . . . . . . . . . .
106
TO THE CHIEF OF THE AUTOMOBILE WORKS PROJECT AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE MOLOTOV
AUTOMOBILE WORKS, NIZHNI-NOVGOROD . . .
126
IX
CONTENTS
TO THE CHIEF OF THE HARVESTER COMBINE
WORKS PROJECT AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE
HARVESTER COMBINE WORKS, SARATOV. . .
127
REPLY TO OLEKHNOVICH AND ARISTOV. With Reference to the Letter “Some Questions Concerning the History of Bolshevism” Addressed to the Editorial Board
of the Magazine “Proletarskaya Revolutsia” . . . .
128
MAGNITOGORSK IRON AND STEEL WORKS PROJECT,
MAGNITOGORSK . . . . . . . . . . . . .
135
REPLY TO THE LETTER OF Mr. RICHARDSON, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWS AGENCY . . . . . . . . . . . . .
136
THE IMPORTANCE AND TASKS OF THE COMPLAINTS
BUREAUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
137
REPLIES TO THE QUESTIONS OF RALPH V. BARNES
May 3, 1935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
139
KUZNETSK IRON AND STEEL WORKS PROJECT
KUZNETSK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
142
GREETINGS TO THE SEVENTH ALL-UNION CONFERENCE OF THE ALL-UNION LENINIST YOUNG
COMMUNIST LEAGUE . . . . . . . . . . .
143
CONGRATULATIONS TO MAXIM GORKY .
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TO THE BUILDERS OF THE DNIEPER HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION . . . . . . . .
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GREETINGS TO LENINGRAD .
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LETTER TO THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE NEWSPAPER PRAVDA . . . . . . . . . . . . .
147
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH .
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Record of the Talk with Mr. Campbell, January 28, 1929
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THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OGPU .
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X
CONTENTS
JOINT PLENUM OF THE C.C. AND C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.),
January 7-12, 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Results of the First Five-Year Plan. Report Delivered on January 7, 1933 . . . . . . . .
I. The International Significance of the Five-Year
Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. The Fundamental Task of the Five-Year Plan
and the Way to Its Fulfilment . . . . . .
III. The Results of the Five-Year Plan in Four Years
in the Sphere of Industry . . . . . . . .
IV. The Results of the Five-Year Plan in Four Years
in the Sphere of Agriculture . . . . . . .
V. The Results of the Five-Year Plan in Four Years
as Regards Improving the Material Conditions of
the Workers and Peasants . . . . . . . .
VI. The Results of the Five-Year Plan in Four Years
as Regards Trade Turnover between Town and
Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
VII. The Results of the Five-Year Plan in Four Years
in the Sphere of the Struggle against the Remnants
of the Hostile Classes . . . . . . . . .
VIII. General Conclusions . . . . . . . . . .
Work in the Countryside. Speech Delivered on January
11, 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TO RABOTNITSA .
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240
LETTER TO COMRADE I. N. BAZHANOV .
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SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE FIRST ALL-UNION
CONGRESS OF COLLECTIVE-FARM SHOCK BRIGADERS, February 19, 1933 . . . . . . . . .
I. The Collective-Farm Path Is the Only Right Path
II. Our Immediate Task—To Make All the Collective
Farmers Prosperous . . . . . . . . . . .
III. Miscellaneous Remarks . . . . . . . . . .
242
242
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257
XI
CONTENTS
GREETINGS TO THE RED ARMY ON ITS FIFTEENTH
ANNIVERSARY. To the Revolutionary Military Council of the U.S.S.R. . . . . . . . . . . . .
264
REPLY TO A LETTER FROM Mr. BARNES, March 20,
1933 . . . .
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265
TO COMRADE S. M. BUDYONNY .
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TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS, May 13, 1933. (Brief
Record) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
267
GREETINGS ON THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ALL-UNION LENINIST YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
280
TALK WITH Mr. DURANTY, CORRESPONDENT OF
THE NEW YORK TIMES, December 25, 1933 . . .
282
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REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
ON THE WORK OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF THE C.P.S.U.(B.), January 26, 1934 . . . . .
I. The Continuing Crisis of World Capitalism and the
External Situation of the Soviet Union . . . .
1. The Course of the Economic Crisis in the Capitalist
Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. The Growing Tension in the Political Situation in
the Capitalist Countries . . . . . . . . .
3. The Relations between the U.S.S.R. and the Capitalist States . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. The Continuing Progress of the National Economy
and the Internal Situation in the U.S.S.R. . . .
1. The Progress of Industry . . . . . . . . .
2. The Progress of Agriculture . . . . . . . .
3. The Rise in the Material and Cultural Standard of
the Working People . . . . . . . . . .
4. The Progress of Trade Turnover, and Transport . .
III. The Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Questions of Ideological and Political Leadership . .
2. Questions of Organisational Leadership . . . . .
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297
306
312
316
324
340
346
353
355
372
XII
CONTENTS
TO COMRADE SHAPOSHNIKOV, CHIEF AND COMISSAR OF THE FRUNZE MILITARY ACADEMY
OF THE WORKERS’ AND PEASANTS’ RED ARMY.
TO COMRADE SHCHADENKO, ASSISTANT FOR
POLITICAL WORK . . . . . . . . . . . .
389
INSTEAD OF A REPLY TO THE DISCUSSION, January 31,
1934 . . . . . . . . . .
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390
Notes
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Biographical Chronicle (July 1930-January 1934) .
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PREFACE
The thirteenth volume of the Works of J. V. Stalin
contains writings and speeches of the period from July
1930 to January 1934.
During this period the Bolshevik Party, carrying
out the policy of a sweeping offensive of socialism along
the whole front, achieved epoch-making successes in
the socialist transformation of the country. The Soviet
Union became a mighty industrial power, a country
of collective, large-scale, mechanised agriculture.
In the “Reply to the Discussion on the Political
Report of the Central Committee to the Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.),” J. V. Stalin exposes the
double-dealing of the leaders of the Right opportunists.
Describing the successes in the work of socialist construction, he points out that the U.S.S.R. has entered
the period of socialism. Criticising the anti-Marxist,
anti-Leninist theory of the dying away of national
languages and their merging into one common language
within the framework of a single state at a time when
socialism is victorious in one country, J. V. Stalin
substantiates the programmatic thesis that the national
languages will merge into one common language only
after the victory of socialism on a world scale.
XIV
PREFACE
In his speeches “The Tasks of Business Executives”
and “New Conditions—New Tasks in Economic Construction,” J. V. Stalin shows the historical necessity
of rapid rates of socialist industrialisation, shows
the decisive importance of technique in the period of
reconstruction of all branches of the national economy and advances the slogan: “Bolsheviks must
master technique.” J. V. Stalin discloses the new conditions of development of socialist industry and outlines new methods of management in the work of economic construction.
In the report “The Results of the First Five-Year
Plan” at the joint plenum of the Central Committee
and the Central Control Commission of the C.P.S.U.(B.),
J. V. Stalin shows that the fulfilment of the First FiveYear Plan in four years is of the utmost international
significance. The results of the five-year plan, achieved
at a time when the entire capitalist system was shaken
by a world economic crisis, proved the indisputable
superiority of the Soviet socialist system over the outof-date capitalist system of economy.
Speaking of the principal forces that ensured the
victory of the five-year plan, J. V. Stalin notes first
and foremost the activity and selflessness, the enthusiasm and initiative, of the vast masses of workers and
collective farmers who, in conjunction with the engineering and technical personnel, displayed enormous
energy in the promotion of socialist emulation and shockbrigade work.
In defining the main tasks of the Party connected
with the results of the five-year plan, J. V. Stalin indicates the special importance of safeguarding public,
PREFACE
XV
socialist property against grafters and pilferers and the
necessity of strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat in every way.
The problems of consolidating the collective-farm
system and the tasks of Party work in the countryside
are the theme of the speech “Work in the Countryside”
and of the “Speech Delivered at the First All-Union
Congress of Collective-Farm Shock Brigaders.” Revealing the new tactics of the camouflaged class enemies
in the countryside, J. V. Stalin appeals to the Party
organisations for greater vigilance. Summarising the
results of collective-farm development, J. V. Stalin
advances the slogan: Make the collective farms Bolshevik and the collective farmers prosperous.
The following works by J. V. Stalin: “Some Questions Concerning the History of Bolshevism”—(letter
to the editorial board of the magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia) and “Reply to Olekhnovich and Aristov,” deal with
very important problems of the history of Bolshevism.
Denouncing the Trotskyist and all other falsifiers of the
history of the Party, J. V. Stalin calls for the study
of the history of the Party to be put on scientific, Bolshevik lines, emphasising that Leninism was born,
grew up and became strong in relentless struggle against
opportunism of every brand. J. V. Stalin characterises
Trotskyism as the advanced detachment of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie.
In his letter to Demyan Bedny, J. V. Stalin points
out that some of Demyan Bedny’s skits in verse are permeated with unpatriotic tendencies and are an obvious
retreat from Leninism. J. V. Stalin stresses the fact
that the Russian working class has given mankind
XVI
PREFACE
splendid examples of struggle for freedom and for socialism. This fills the hearts of the Russian workers with
a feeling of revolutionary national pride that can
move mountains and perform miracles. J. V. Stalin
calls upon Soviet writers to be equal to the lofty
tasks of bards of the advanced proletariat.
In the “Talk with the German Author Emil Ludwig,”
J. V. Stalin by his theoretical treatment throws light
on the question of the role of the individual and of the
masses of the people in history. In his replies to Ludwig’s
questions, J. V. Stalin declares that the task to which
he has devoted his life is the elevation of the working
class, the strengthening of the socialist state. Everything that strengthens the socialist state helps to strengthen the entire international working class.
In a number of talks with public figures from abroad
J. V. Stalin characterises the foreign policy of the Soviet state as a consistent policy of peace and substantiates the possibility of peaceful co-existence and of
establishing business connections between the U.S.S.R.
and the capitalist countries.
In the “Report to the Seventeenth Party Congress on
the Work of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.),”
J. V. Stalin sums up the great victories of socialism in
the U.S.S.R., notes the radical changes that have taken
place in the country since the Sixteenth Congress, the
successes achieved in all the branches of the socialist
national economy and culture, successes that testify to
the complete triumph of the general line of the Party.
J. V. Stalin stresses that the Party owes its successes
to being guided in its work by the invincible teachings
of Marx, Engels, Lenin. J. V. Stalin outlines the pro-
PREFACE
XVII
gramme of the further work of the Party in industry,
agriculture and other branches of the national economy,
and in culture and science. J. V. Stalin puts forward
the task of raising organisational leadership to the
level of political leadership, of intensifying the ideological work of the Party and the struggle against the
survivals of capitalism in the minds of people.
J. V. Stalin analyses the course of the world economic crisis, which is based on the general crisis of
capitalism; he shows that in the conditions of the general
crisis of the capitalist system capitalism is experiencing a depression of a special kind, one which does not
lead to a new upward trend and industrial boom.
J. V. Stalin describes the growing tension in the political situation within the capitalist countries and in
the relations between these countries, and the imperialists’ preparation for a new world war.
Exposing the plans of the instigators of war and
scientifically forecasting the further development of
events, J. V. Stalin points out that war against the
Soviet Union will be the most dangerous war for the
imperialists, that the peoples of the U.S.S.R. will fight
to the death to preserve the gains of the revolution,
that the war will lead to the complete defeat of the aggressors, to revolution in a number of countries in Europe
and Asia, and to the overthrow of the bourgeois-landlord
governments in those countries. J. V. Stalin defines
the foreign policy of the U.S.S.R. as a policy of preserving peace. He warns that it is necessary to strengthen
the defence capacity of the Soviet country in order
to be ready to defend it from attack by imperialist
states.
XVIII
PREFACE
The following items in the thirteenth volume are
published for the first time: J. V. Stalin’s letters to
Comrade Shatunovsky, Comrade Ch., Demyan Bedny,
Comrade Etchin, and Comrade I. N. Bazhanov;
J. V. Stalin’s replies to Ralph V. Barnes’s questions
and the reply to Mr. Barnes’s letter; the talk with
Colonel Robins.
Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
J U LY
!(#)_ J ANUARY !(#$
REPLY TO THE DISCUSSION
ON THE POLITICAL REPORT
OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
TO THE SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
OF THE C.P.S.U.(B.) 1
July 22, 1930
Comrades, after the discussion on the Central Committee’s report and after all that has happened at this
congress in connection with the statements made by
the former leaders of the Right opposition, little is
left for me to say in my concluding remarks.
I stated in my report that the Sixteenth Congress
is one of the few congresses in the history of our Party
at which there is no opposition of any crystallised kind,
able to lay down its line and to counterpose it to that
of the Party. That, as you see, is in fact precisely what
has happened. Not only has there been no definitely
crystallised opposition at our congress, the Sixteenth
Congress of the Party, but there has not been even a
small group, or even individual comrades, who have
thought fit to come forward on the platform here and
declare that the Party line is wrong.
The line followed by our Party is clearly the only
correct one, moreover its correctness, it turns out, is
so evident and indisputable that even the former
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J. V. S T A L I N
leaders of the Right opposition considered it necessary
unhesitatingly to stress in their pronouncements the
correctness of the Party’s entire policy.
After all that, there is of course no need to dwell
at length on the correctness of the propositions expounded in the report. There is no such need because, in
view of its evident correctness, the Party’s line stands
in no need of further defence at this congress. And if,
nevertheless, I have not waived my right to reply to the
discussion, it is because I do not think it will be superfluous to answer briefly some notes handed up by
comrades to the congress Presidium, and then to say
a few words with regard to the utterances of the former leaders of the Right opposition.
A great many of the notes concern questions of
secondary importance: why was no mention made of
horse-breeding in the reports, and could not this be
touched upon in the reply to the discussion? (Laughter.)
Why did the reports not mention house-building, and
could not something be said about it in the reply to
the discussion? Why did the reports say nothing about
the electrification of agriculture, and could not something be said about it in the reply to the discussion?
And so on in the same strain.
My answer to all these comrades must be that I
could not in my report touch on all the problems of our
national economy. And I not only could not but had
no right to, since I have no right to invade the sphere
of the reports which Comrades Kuibyshev and Yakovlev
are to make to you on concrete problems of industry
and agriculture. Indeed, if all questions were to be
dealt with in the Central Committee’s report, what
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
3
s ho u l d t h e r e p orters on industry, agr ic ultur e , e tc .,
say in their reports? (Voices: Quite right!)
In particular, as regards the note on the electrification of agriculture, I must say that its author is wrong
on several points. He asserts that we are already “confronted squarely with” the electrification of agriculture, that the People’s Commissariat of Agriculture
is blocking progress in this matter, that Lenin thought
differently on the subject, etc. All that is untrue, comrades. It cannot be said that we are “confronted squarely with” the problem of electrifying agriculture. If
we were in fact confronted squarely with the electrification of agriculture we should already have ten to
fifteen districts in which agricultural production was
electrified. But you know very well that we have nothing of the kind as yet. All one can say at the present
time about the electrification of agriculture in our country is that it is in the experimental stage. That is how
Lenin regarded this matter, encouraging such experiments. Some comrades believe the tractor is already out
of date, that the time has come to advance from tractors to the electrification of agriculture. That of course
is a fantastic notion. Such comrades should be taken
down a peg or two. And that is precisely what the People’s Commissariat of Agriculture is doing with them.
Hence the note-writer’s dissatisfaction with the People’s
Commissariat of Agriculture cannot be considered justified.
The second batch of notes concerns the national
question. One of them—the most interesting, in my
opinion—compares the treatment of the problem of
national languages in my report at the Sixteenth Con-
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J. V. S T A L I N
gress with the treatment of it in my speech at the University of the Peoples of the East in 1925 2 and finds
a certain lack of clarity which needs elucidating. The
note says: “You objected at that time to the theory
(Kautsky’s) of the dying away of national languages
and the formation of a single, common language in the
period of socialism (in one country), while now, in your
report at the Sixteenth Congress, you state that Communists believe in the merging of national cultures and
national languages into one common culture with one
common language (in the period of the victory of socialism on a world scale). Is there not a lack of clarity
here?”
I think that there is neither lack of clarity nor the
slightest contradiction here. In my speech in 1925 I
objected to Kautsky’s national-chauvinist theory on
the basis of which a victory of the proletarian revolution in the middle of the past century in the united
Austro-German state was bound to lead to the merging
of the nations into one common German nation, with
one common German language, and to the Germanisation of the Czechs. I objected to this theory as being
anti-Marxist, anti-Leninist, and in refutation of it
quoted facts from life in our country after the victory
of socialism in the U.S.S.R. I still oppose this theory,
as can be seen from my report at this Sixteenth Congress. I oppose it because the theory of the merging of
all the nations of, say, the U.S.S.R. into one common
Great-Russian nation with one common Great-Russian
language is a national-chauvinist, anti-Leninist theory,
which contradicts the basic thesis of Leninism that
national differences cannot disappear in the near future,
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
5
that they are bound to remain for a long time even
after the victory of the proletarian revolution on a world
scale.
As for the more remote prospects for national cultures and national languages, I have always adhered
and continue to adhere to the Leninist view that in
the period of the victory of socialism on a world scale,
when socialism has been consolidated and become
the way of life, the national languages are inevitably
bound to merge into one common language, which, of
course, will be neither Great-Russian nor German, but
something new. I made a definite statement on this
also in my report at the Sixteenth Congress.
Where, then, is the lack of clarity here and what
is it exactly that needs elucidating?
Evidently, the authors of the note were not quite
clear on at least two things:
First and foremost, they were not clear on the fact
that in the U.S.S.R. we have already entered the period
of socialism; moreover, despite the fact that we have
entered this period, the nations are not only not dying
away, but, on the contrary, are developing and flourishing. Have we, in actual fact, already entered the period of socialism? Our period is usually called the period of transition from capitalism to socialism. It was
called a transition period in 1918, when Lenin, in his
celebrated article, “‘Left-Wing’ Childishness and PettyBourgeois Mentality,” 3 first described this period with
its five forms of economy. It is called a transition
p e r i o d t o d a y, i n 1 9 3 0 , w h e n s o m e o f t h e s e f o r m s ,
having become obsolete, are already on the way to disappearance, while one of them, namely, the new form
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J. V. S T A L I N
of economy in the sphere of industry and agriculture, is
growing and developing with unprecedented speed.
Can it be said that these two transition periods are
identical, are not radically different from each other?
Obviously not.
What did we have in the sphere of the national economy in 1918? A ruined industry and cigarette lighters;
neither collective farms nor state farms on a mass scale;
the growth of a “new” bourgeoisie in the towns and of
the kulaks in the countryside.
What have we today? Socialist industry, restored
and undergoing reconstruction, an extensive system
of state farms and collective farms, accounting for more
than 40 per cent of the total sown area of the U.S.S.R.
in the spring-sown sector alone, a moribund “new”
bourgeoisie in the town and a moribund kulak class
in the countryside.
The former was a transition period and so is the
latter. Nevertheless, they are as far apart as heaven
and earth. And nevertheless, no one can deny that we
are on the verge of eliminating the last important capitalist class, the kulak class. Clearly, we have already
emerged from the transition period in the old sense and
have entered the period of direct and sweeping socialist construction along the whole front. Clearly, we
have already entered the period of socialism, for the
socialist sector now controls all the economic levers
of the entire national economy, although we are still
far from having completely built a socialist society and
from having abolished class distinctions. Nevertheless,
the national languages are not only not dying away
or merging into one common tongue, but, on the contrary,
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
7
the national cultures and national languages are developing and flourishing. Is it not clear that the theory
of the dying away of national languages and their
merging into one common language within the framework of a single state in the period of sweeping socialist
construction, in the period of socialism in one country,
is an incorrect, anti-Marxist, anti-Leninist theory?
Secondly, the authors of the note were not clear on
the fact that the dying away of national languages and
their merging into one common language is not an intrastate question, not a question of the victory of socialism in one country, but an international question, a
question of the victory of socialism on an international
scale. They failed to understand that the victory of
socialism in one country must not be confused with the
victory of socialism on an international scale. Lenin
had good reason for saying that national differences
will remain for a long time even after the victory of the
dictatorship of the proletariat on an international scale.
Besides, we must take into consideration still another circumstance, which affects a number of the nations
of the U.S.S.R. There is a Ukraine which forms part of
the U.S.S.R. But there is also another Ukraine which
forms part of other states. There is a Byelorussia which
forms part of the U.S.S.R. But there is also another
Byelorussia which forms part of other states. Do you
think that the question of the Ukrainian and Byelorussian languages can be settled without taking these specific conditions into account?
Then take the nations of the U.S.S.R. situated along
its southern border, from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan
and Buryat-Mongolia. They are all in the same posi-
8
J. V. S T A L I N
tion as the Ukraine and Byelorussia. Naturally, here too
we have to take into consideration the specific conditions of development of these nations.
Is it not obvious that all these and similar questions
that are bound up with the problem of national cultures
and national languages cannot be settled within the
framework of a single state, within the framework of the
U.S.S.R.?
That, comrades, is how matters stand with respect to
the national question in general and the above-mentioned note on the national question in particular.
Allow me to pass now to the utterances of the former
leaders of the Right opposition.
What does the congress demand of the former leaders
of the Right opposition? Repentance perhaps, or selfchastisement? Of course not! Our Party, the congress
of our Party, will never go to the length of requiring
Party members to do anything that might humiliate
them. The congress demands three things of the former
leaders of the Right opposition:
firstly, that they realise that there is a gulf between
the line of the Party and the line they were advocating,
and that the line they upheld leads objectively not to
the victory of socialism, but to the victory of capitalism
(voices: “Quite right!”);
secondly, that they brand that line as an anti-Leninist line and dissociate themselves from it frankly and
honestly (voices: “Quite right!”);
thirdly, that they fall into step with us and, together with us, wage a determined struggle against all
Right deviators. (Voices: “Quite right!” Stormy applause.)
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
9
That is what the congress demands of the former
leaders of the Right opposition.
Is there anything in these demands humiliating
for them as people wanting to remain Bolsheviks?
Obviously, there is nothing here that is or could
be humiliating. Every Bolshevik, every revolutionary,
every self-respecting Party member will realise that
he can only stand higher and gain in the eyes of the
Party if he frankly and honestly admits facts that are
clear and indisputable.
That is why I think Tomsky’s talk about people
wanting to send him to the Gobi Desert to eat locusts
and wild honey is on a par with the flat jokes of a provincial variety theatre and has nothing in common
with the question of a revolutionary’s self-respect.
(Laughter. Applause.)
It may be asked: why is the congress once again
making these demands of the former leaders of the
Right opposition?
Is it not a fact that these demands were presented
to them once before, in November 1929, at the plenum
of the Central Committee 4 ? Is it not a fact that they,
the former leaders of the Right opposition, accepted
those demands at that time, renounced their own line,
admitting its erroneous character, recognised the correctness of the Party line and promised to fight, together
with the Party, against the Right deviation? Yes, all
that was so. What is the point then? The point is that
they did not keep their promise, they did not fulfil
and are not fulfilling the pledges that they gave seven
months ago. (Voices: “Quite right!”) Uglanov was
quite right when he said in his speech that they had
10
J. V. S T A L I N
not fulfilled the pledges given to the November plenum
of the Central Committee.
That is the source of the distrust which they are now
encountering at the present congress.
That is why the congress is once more presenting
its demands to them.
Rykov, Tomsky and Uglanov complained here that
the congress was treating them with distrust. But whose
fault is that? It is their own fault. One who does not
fulfil his pledges cannot expect to be trusted.
Did they, the former leaders of the Right opposition, have any opportunities, any occasions to fulfil
their promises and turn over a new leaf? Of course they
did. And what advantage did they take of these opportunities and occasions during the seven months?
None.
R e c e n t l y Ry k o v a t t e n d e d t h e c o n f e r e n c e i n t h e
Urals. 5 Consequently, he had an excellent chance to
correct his mistakes. And what happened? Instead of
frankly and resolutely shedding his vacillations he
began to play tricks and manoeuvre. Naturally, the
Urals Conference could not but rebuff him.
Now compare Rykov’s speech at the Urals Conference
with his speech at the Sixteenth Congress. A gulf lies
between them. There he played tricks and manoeuvred,
fighting the conference. Here he tries frankly and
publicly to admit his mistakes, tries to break with the
Right opposition and promises to support the Party
in the struggle against deviations. Whence such a change
and how is it to be explained? It is to be explained,
obviously, by the precarious situation that has arisen
in the Party for the former leaders of the Right oppo-
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
11
sition. No wonder then that the congress has gained
this definite impression: You’ll get nothing out of these
people unless you put the screw on them. (General laughter. Prolonged applause.)
Did Uglanov have an opportunity of fulfilling the
promise he made to the November plenum of the Central
Committee? Yes, he did. I have in mind the non-Party
meeting at the Moscow Electric Works which he recently addressed. And what happened? Instead of speaking there as befits a Bolshevik he began to find fault
with the Party line. For that he was, of course, suitably
rebuffed by the Party unit of the works.
Now compare that speech with his statement printed
in today’s Pravda. A gulf lies between them. How is
this change to be explained? Again by the precarious
situation that has arisen around the former leaders of
the Right opposition. Small wonder then that the congress has drawn a definite lesson from this: You’ll get
nothing out of these people unless you put the screw
on them. (General laughter. Applause.)
Or Tomsky, for instance. Recently he was in Tiflis,
at the Transcaucasian Conference. 6 Consequently, he
had a chance to make amends for his sins. And what
happened? In his speech there he dealt with state farms,
collective farms, co-operatives, the cultural revolution and all that sort of thing, but he did not utter a
word about the chief thing, that is, his opportunist
work in the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.
And that is called fulfilling pledges given to the Party!
He wanted to outwit the Party, not realising that millions of eyes are watching every one of us and that in
this matter you cannot outwit anybody.
12
J. V. S T A L I N
Now compare his Tiflis speech with the one he delivered at this congress, where he directly and openly
admitted his opportunist mistakes in leadership of the
A.U.C.C.T.U. A gulf lies between them. How is this
difference to be explained? Again, by the precarious
situation that has arisen around the former leaders of
the Right opposition. Small wonder then that the congress tried to exert due pressure on these comrades to
get them to carry out their obligations. (Applause.
General laughter throughout the hall.)
That is the source of the distrust which the congress
still entertains for these comrades.
How is this more than strange conduct of the former leaders of the Right opposition to be explained?
How is the fact to be explained that during the
past period they did not make a single attempt to fulfil their pledges voluntarily, without pressure from
outside?
It is to be explained by at least two circumstances:
Firstly, by the fact that, being still not fully convinced that the Party line was right, they continued to
carry on a certain factional activity surreptitiously,
lying low for the time being and waiting for a suitable
occasion to come out openly once more against the Party.
When they gathered at their factional meetings and
discussed Party questions they would usually calculate
in this way: let us wait until the spring; maybe the
Party will come a cropper with the sowing, then we will
strike, and strike hard. The spring, however, gave them
no advantage, as the sowing proceeded successfully.
Then they calculated afresh: let us wait until the autumn;
maybe the Party will come a cropper with the grain
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REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
13
procurements, then we will strike at the Central Committee. But the autumn, too, disappointed them, giving them nothing for their pains. And as spring and
autumn recur every year, the former leaders of the Right
opposition continued to bide their time, repeatedly
pinning their hopes now on the spring and now on the
autumn. (General laughter throughout the hall.)
Naturally, as they kept biding their time from season to season in expectation of a favourable moment for
striking at the Party, they were unable to fulfil their
pledges.
Lastly, the second reason. It consists in the circumstance that the former leaders of the Right opposition
do not understand our Bolshevik rates of development,
do not believe in those rates and, in general, will not
accept anything that goes beyond the bounds of gradual development, beyond the bounds of allowing matters to take their own course. Moreover, our Bolshevik
speeds, our new methods of development bound up
with the period of reconstruction, the sharpening of
the class struggle and the consequences of this sharpening fill them with alarm, confusion, fear and terror.
Hence it is natural that they should shrink from everything connected with the most incisive slogans of our
Party.
They are afflicted with the same disease as that of
Chekhov’s well-known character Belikov, teacher of Greek,
“the man wrapped in padding.” Do you remember
Chekhov’s story, “The Man Wrapped in Padding”?
That character, you may recall, always went about
in galoshes and a padded coat, carrying an umbrella,
in hot and in cold weather. “Excuse me, but why do
14
J. V. S T A L I N
you wear galoshes and a padded coat in July, in such hot
weather?” Belikov used to be asked. “You never can
tell,” Belikov would reply, “Something untoward might
happen; a sudden frost might set in, what then?” (General laughter. Applause.) Everything new, everything
that was outside the daily routine of his drab philistine
life, he feared like the plague. If a new restaurant was
opened, Belikov promptly took alarm: “It may, of course,
be a grand idea to have a restaurant, but take care, something untoward might happen!” If a dramatic circle
was formed or a reading room opened, Belikov again
fell into a panic: “A dramatic circle, a new reading
room—what could they be for? Take care—something
untoward might happen!” (General laughter.)
The same thing must be said about the former leaders of the Right opposition. Do you remember the case
of the transfer of the technical colleges to the economic
People’s Commissariats? We wanted to transfer only
two technical colleges to the Supreme Council of National Economy. A small matter, it would seem. Yet we
encountered desperate resistance on the part of the
Right deviators. “Hand over two technical colleges to
the S.C.N.E.? Why? Would it not be better to wait
a bit? Take care, something untoward might happen
as a result of this scheme!” Yet today all our technical
colleges have been transferred to economic People’s
Commissariats. And we are getting along all right.
Or take, for example, the emergency measures against
the kulaks. Do you remember the hysterics of the
Right opposition leaders on that occasion? “Emergency
measures against the kulaks? Why? Would it not be
better to adopt a liberal policy towards the kulaks?
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
15
Take care, something untoward might happen as a result of this scheme!” Yet today we are carrying out the
policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class, a policy
in comparison with which the emergency measures
against the kulaks are a mere trifle. And we are getting
along all right.
Or, for example, the question of the collective farms
and state farms. “State farms and collective farms?
What are they for? Why hurry? Mind you, something
might happen as a result of these state and collective
farms.”
And so on and so forth.
It is this dread of the new, this inability to approach new problems in a new way, this apprehension
that “something untoward might happen,” these traits
of the man wrapped in padding that prevent the former
leaders of the Right opposition from merging properly
with the Party.
These traits of the man wrapped in padding assume
particularly ridiculous forms with them when difficulties arise, when the tiniest cloud appears on the horizon.
As soon as any difficulty or hitch occurs anywhere in
our country they become alarmed, fearing that something untoward might happen. Should a cockroach
make a rustling sound somewhere, they start back terror-stricken even before it has had time to crawl out
of its hole, and they begin to howl about a catastrophe,
about the downfall of the Soviet regime. (Loud
laughter.)
We try to calm them, to convince them that as yet
nothing dangerous has occurred, that after all it is
only a cockroach, which no one need be afraid of. But
16
J. V. S T A L I N
it is of no avail. They keep on howling: “What do you
mean, a cockroach? That’s not a cockroach, it’s a thousand wild beasts! It’s not a cockroach, but the abyss,
the downfall of the Soviet regime.”. . . And—there
is a regular commotion. Bukharin writes theses on the
subject and sends them to the Central Committee, asserting that its policy has brought the country to ruin and
that the Soviet regime will certainly perish, if not at
once then in a month’s time at most. Rykov associates
himself with Bukharin’s theses, with the reservation,
however, that he has a most serious point of disagreement with Bukharin, namely, that the Soviet regime
will perish, in his opinion, not in a month’s time, but
after a month and two days. (General laughter.) Tomsky
associates himself with Bukharin and Rykov, but protests against their inability to do without theses, to do
without a document which they will have to answer for
later on: “How many times have I told you, ‘do as you
please, but don’t leave any documents behind, don’t
leave any traces!’” (Roars of laughter throughout the
hall. Prolonged applause.)
True, later on, when a year has passed and every
fool can see that the cockroach peril was not worth a
rap, the Right deviators begin to come to and, gaining
courage, are not averse even to boasting a little, declaring that they are not afraid of any cockroaches, and
that, anyway, that particular cockroach was such a frail
and puny specimen. (Laughter. Applause.) But that is
after a year has passed. In the meantime—be good enough
to put up with these procrastinators. . . .
These, comrades, are the circumstances which prevent the former leaders of the Right opposition from
REPLY TO DISCUSSION AT 16TH PARTY CONGRESS
17
coming closer to the core of the Party leadership and
completely merging with it.
How can the situation be remedied here?
There is only one way to do so: by breaking once
and for all with their past, equipping themselves anew
and merging completely with the Central Committee
of our Party in its struggle for Bolshevik rates of development, in its struggle against the Right deviation.
There is no other way.
If the former leaders of the Right opposition are
able to do this, well and good. If not, they will have
nobody but themselves to blame. (Prolonged applause
from the entire hall. An ovation. All rise and sing the
“Internationale.”)
Pravda, No. 181,
July 3, 1930
LETTER TO COMRADE SHATUNOVSKY
Comrade Shatunovsky,
I do not remember your first letter (about Liebknecht). Your second (on criticism) I have read. Criticism, of course, is necessary and obligatory, but on
one condition: that it is not barren. Unfortunately,
your criticism cannot be considered other than barren.
Let me take it up point by point:
1) It is not true that before the revolution land was
bought only by kulaks. In point of fact both the kulaks
and the middle peasants used to buy land. If the peasant households that bought land are divided according
to social groups, a larger number of them will be found
to belong to middle peasants than to kulaks; but if
the quantity of land bought is taken as the criterion
the kulaks will preponderate. In my speech, 7 of course,
I had the middle peasants in mind.
2) The phrase about the blockheads’ retreat to
Leninist positions is another way of expressing the idea
that they are renouncing their errors. That, I believe,
is clear and understandable. Your “critical” remark
on this score is really amusing.
3) You are likewise wrong about the conversion
of rye into pig food. The point I am making is not that
rye can also be fed to pigs, but that there is a crisis of
LETTER TO COMRADE SHATUNOVSKY
19
over-production of rye, 8 which makes it unprofitable
to enlarge the area under rye and compels the capitalists (for the sake of maintaining prices) to spoil rye
by a special chemical treatment that makes it fit only
for pig food (and unfit for human consumption). How
could you overlook this “trifle”?
4) You are still more wrong in assuming that the
decay of capitalism precludes its growth. Read Lenin’s
Imperialism 9 and you will realise that the decay of capitalism in certain industries and countries does not preclude but presupposes the growth of capitalism in other
industries and countries. How could you fail to notice
this “trifle” in Lenin? Criticise, if you please, but do
so from Lenin’s point of view, and from that point of
view alone, if you want your criticism to be productive.
5) You are likewise wrong when you describe our
country as one of the “colonial type.” Colonial countries are in the main pre-capitalist countries. Ours,
however, is a post-capitalist country. The former have
not reached the stage of developed capitalism. The latter
has outgrown developed capitalism. They are two fundamentally different types. How can one forget this
“trifle,” comrade critic?
6) You are surprised that in Stalin’s view the new
economic cadres should be technically more experienced
than the old. 10 It may be asked, why is this? Is it not
true that in our country our old economic cadres were
trained during the restoration period, the period when
the old and technically backward factories were working
to capacity, and consequently they did not afford much
technical experience? Is it not true that in the period
of reconstruction, when new, modern technical equip-
20
J. V. S T A L I N
ment is being introduced, the old economic cadres have
to be retrained in the new methods, not infrequently
giving way to new, more qualified technical cadres?
Will you really deny that the old economic cadres, who
were trained in working the old factories to capacity
or restarting them, frequently prove to be quite unable
to cope not only with the new machinery but also with
our new tempos?
7) I shall not touch upon the other points raised in
your letter, which are smaller and more trivial, although
just as fallacious.
8) You speak of your “devotion” to me. Perhaps
it was just a chance phrase. Perhaps. . . . But if the
phrase was not accidental I would advise you to discard
the “principle” of devotion to persons. It is not the Bolshevik way. Be devoted to the working class, its Party,
its state. That is a fine and useful thing. But do not
confuse it with devotion to persons, this vain and useless bauble of weak-minded intellectuals.
With communist greetings,
J. Stalin
August 1930
Published for the first time
LETTERS TO COMRADE CH.
Comrade Ch.,
Your note is full of misunderstandings. My report
at the Fifteenth Party Conference speaks of the “unity
between the interests of industrialisation (i.e., of the
proletariat) and the interests of the main mass of the
labouring sections of the population.” It says there that
our method of industrialisation, i.e., the socialist method of industrialisation, “leads not to the impoverishment of the vast masses, but to an improvement of
their living standards, not to an aggravation of the internal contradictions, but to the latter being evened
out and overcome.” 11 Hence it is a matter here of the
bond between the working class and the main mass of
the working people, particularly the main mass of the
peasantry. Hence it is a matter of the contradictions
within the bond, which will be evened out and overcome
satisfactorily as industrialisation increases, that is, as
the strength and influence of the country’s proletariat
grows.
That is the matter dealt with in my report.
But you, having forgotten all this, argue about the
contradictions between the proletariat and the kulaks,
that is contradictions that lie outside the scope of the
22
J. V. S T A L I N
bond and will grow and become more acute until we eliminate the kulaks as a class.
It follows that you have confused two different
things. You have confused the contradictions between
the proletariat and the main mass of the working people
with the contradictions between the proletariat and the
kulaks.
Is that clear? I think it is.
With communist greetings,
J. Stalin
November 1930
Comrade Ch.,
1. In your first letter you played with the word “contradictions” and lumped together contradictions outside
the bond (that is contradictions between the proletarian
dictatorship and the capitalist elements of the country)
and those within the bond (that is contradictions between the proletariat and the main mass of the peasantry). You could have avoided this, for a Marxist
impermissible, game if you had taken the trouble to
understand the basic causes of the disputes between the
Party and the Trotskyists. The Trotskyists told us:
a) You will not cope with the contradictions between
the middle peasants and the working class; they are
bound to fall out and the bond will be abolished unless a victorious world revolution renders timely assistance;
TO COMRADE DEMYAN BEDNY
23
b) You will not overcome the capitalist elements,
you will not completely build socialism by your own
efforts and a Thermidor will be inevitable unless a
victorious world revolution renders timely assistance.
On both these questions the Trotskyists, as we know,
were defeated. But you had no desire to reflect on our
disputes with the Trotskyists. In my reply I was therefore compelled to expose your playing with the word
“contradictions” and said that it was impermissible to
lump together two series of dissimilar contradictions.
And what was your reply to this?
2. Instead of honestly acknowledging your mistake,
you “diplomatically” evaded the question and passed
on from playing with the word “contradictions” to
playing with the words “inner contradictions,” lumping together contradictions within the bond and contradictions within the country, contradictions between the
proletarian dictatorship and capitalism. That is, you
are “imperceptibly” repeating your former mistake,
with a mere change in its form. I shall not conceal the
fact that lumping together two dissimilar contradictions
and “diplomatically” slurring over this question is a
very characteristic feature of the Trotskyist-Zinovievist
way of thinking. I did not think that you were infected
with this disease. Now I have to think about this as well.
As I cannot tell what further play you will indulge
in and am terribly overburdened with current affairs
so that I have no time left for play, I must bid you farewell, Comrade Ch.
J. Stalin
December 7, 1930
Published for the first time
TO COMRADE DEMYAN BEDNY
(Excerpts from a Letter)
Your letter of December 8 received. You evidently
want my answer. Well, here it is.
First of all, about some of your small and trifling
phrases and insinuations. If these ugly “trifles” were
an accidental element, one could ignore them. But
they are so numerous and “pour forth” in such a lively
spate that they set the tone of your entire letter. And
as everyone knows, it is the tone that makes the music.
In your estimation the decision of the C.C. is a
“noose,” a sign that “the hour of my (that is, your) doom
has struck.” Why, on what grounds? What shall one
call a Communist who, instead of reflecting on the essence of a C.C. decision and rectifying his mistakes,
treats it as a “noose”?. . .
Dozens of times the C.C. praised you when praise
was due. And dozens of times the C.C. shielded you
(not without stretching things somewhat!) from the
attacks of particular groups or members of our Party.
Dozens of poets and writers have been rebuked by the
C.C. when they made mistakes. All this you considered
normal and understandable. But when the C.C. found
itself compelled to criticise your mistakes you suddenly
started to fume and shout about a “noose.” On what
grounds? Has the C.C. perhaps no right to criticise your
TO COMRADE DEMYAN BEDNY
25
mistakes? Is the C.C. decision perhaps not binding on
you? Is your poetry perhaps above all criticism? Do
you not find that you have caught a certain unpleasant
disease called “conceit”? A little more modesty, Comrade Demyan. . . .
What is the essence of your mistakes? The fact that
your criticism of shortcomings in the manner and conditions of life in the U.S.S.R.—an essential, imperative subject of criticism—which at first you carried out
with considerable accuracy and skill, carried you away
so that it began to turn in your works into slander of
the U.S.S.R., of its past and present. Such are your “Get
Down from the Oven” and “Without Mercy.” Such is
your “Pererva,” which I read today at Comrade Molotov’s suggestion.
You say that Comrade Molotov praised your skit
“Get Down from the Oven.” It is very possible. I
praised it perhaps no less than Comrade Molotov did, for
it (as well as other skits) contains a number of splendid
passages that hit the nail on the head. But there is a
fly in the ointment which spoils the whole picture and
turns it into a veritable “Pererva.” That’s the point,
and that’s what sets the tone in these skits.
Judge for yourself.
The whole world now admits that the centre of the
revolutionary movement has shifted from Western Europe
to Russia. The revolutionaries of all countries look with
hope to the U.S.S.R. as the centre of the liberation
struggle of the working people throughout the world
and recognise it as their only Motherland. In all countries the revolutionary workers unanimously applaud
the Soviet working class, and first and foremost the
26
J. V. S T A L I N
Russian working class, the vanguard of the Soviet workers,
as their recognised leader that is carrying out the most
revolutionary and active policy ever dreamed of by the
proletarians of other countries. The leaders of the revolutionary workers in all countries are eagerly studying
the highly instructive history of Russia’s working class,
its past and the past of Russia, knowing that besides
reactionary Russia there existed also revolutionary Russia, the Russia of the Radishchevs and Chernyshevskys,
the Zhelyabovs and Ulyanovs, the Khalturins and Alexeyevs. All this fills (cannot but fill!) the hearts of
the Russian workers with a feeling of revolutionary national pride that can move mountains and perform
miracles.
And you? Instead of grasping the meaning of this
process, one of the greatest in the history of the revolution, and of being equal to the lofty tasks of a bard
of the advanced proletariat—you retired to a quiet spot
in the country and, after getting into a muddle between
most tedious quotations from the works of Karamzin
and no less tedious maxims from the Domostroi,* began
to shout from the house-tops that in the past Russia
was an abomination of desolation, that present-day
Russia is one solid “Pererva,” that “laziness” and a
desire “to lie on the oven-couch” are well-nigh national
traits of the Russians in general and hence also of the
Russian workers, who after achieving the October Revolution did not, of course, cease to be Russians. And
* Domostroi, a memorial of Russian literature of the 16th
century—a code of social, religious, and particularly family
conduct. It has come to be a synonym for a conservative and
uncultured mode of life.—Tr.
TO COMRADE DEMYAN BEDNY
27
this you call Bolshevik criticism! No, highly esteemed
Comrade Demyan, this is not Bolshevik criticism but
slander of our people, a discrediting of the U.S.S.R., a
discrediting of the proletariat of the U.S.S.R., a discrediting of the Russian proletariat.
And after that you want the C.C. to keep silent!
What do you take our C.C. for?
And you want me to keep silent on the ground that
you, it appears, cherish a “biographical tenderness” for
me! How naïve you are and how little you know the
Bolsheviks. . . .
Perhaps, being a “literate person,” you will not
refuse to listen to the following words of Lenin’s:
“Is the sense of national pride alien to us, Great-Russian
class-conscious proletarians? Of course not! We love our language and our country, we are working most of all to raise her
labouring masses (i.e., nine-tenths of her population) to the
level of the politically conscious life of democrats and Socialists.
It pains us more than anything else to see and feel the outrage,
oppression and humiliation inflicted on our splendid country
by the tsarist hangmen, the nobility and the capitalists. We are
proud of the fact that these outrages have roused resistance in
our midst, the midst of the Great Russians; that from this midst
came Radishchev, the Decembrists and the revolutionary commoners of the seventies; that the Great-Russian working class
in 1905 created a mighty, revolutionary party of the masses;
that at the same time the Great-Russian muzhik was becoming
a democrat, began to overthrow the priest and the landlord.
We remember that half a century ago the Great-Russian democrat
Chernyshevsky, who devoted his life to the cause of the revolution, said: ‘A miserable nation, a nation of slaves, from top to
bottom—all slaves.’ The avowed and unavowed Great-Russian
slaves (slaves of the tsarist monarchy) do not like to recall these
words. Yet, in our opinion, these were words of genuine love of
28
J. V. S T A L I N
country, love saddened owing to the absence of a revolutionary
spirit among the masses of the Great-Russian people. That spirit
was absent at that time. There is little of it now; but it already
exists. We are filled with a sense of national pride because the
Great-Russian nation, too, has created a revolutionary class, it
too has proved that it is capable of giving mankind splendid examples of struggle for freedom and for socialism, and not only great
pogroms, rows of gallows, dungeons, great famines and great
servility towards priests, tsars, landlords and capitalists” (see
Lenin, The National Pride of the Great Russians). 12
That is how Lenin, the greatest internationalist in
the world, could speak of the national pride of the Great
Russians.
And he spoke thus because he knew that
“The interests (not in the servile sense) of the national pride
of the Great Russians coincide with the socialist interests of the
Great-Russian (and all other) proletarians” (ibid.). 13
There you have it, Lenin’s clear and bold “programme.”
This “programme” is fully comprehensible and natural to revolutionaries intimately linked with their
working class, their people.
It is not comprehensible and not natural to political
degenerates of the Lelevich type, who are not and cannot be linked with their working class, their people.
Can this revolutionary “programme” of Lenin be
reconciled with that unhealthy tendency displayed in
your latest skits?
Unfortunately, it cannot, and that is because they
have nothing in common.
That is the point at issue and that is what you refuse to understand.
TO COMRADE DEMYAN BEDNY
29
Therefore, you must at all costs turn back to the old,
Leninist road.
That is the crux of the matter, and not the inane
lamentations of a frightened intellectual who goes around
in a blue funk talking about how they want to “isolate” Demyan, that Demyan “won’t be printed any more,”
and so on.
J. Stalin
December 12, 1930
Published for the first time
ANTI-SEMITISM
Reply to an Inquiry
of the Jewish News Agency in the United States
In answer to your inquiry:
National and racial chauvinism is a vestige of the
misanthropic customs characteristic of the period of
cannibalism. Anti-semitism, as an extreme form of racial chauvinism, is the most dangerous vestige of cannibalism.
Anti-semitism is of advantage to the exploiters as
a lightning conductor that deflects the blows aimed by
the working people at capitalism. Anti-semitism is dangerous for the working people as being a false path that
leads them off the right road and lands them in the
jungle. Hence Communists, as consistent internationalists, cannot but be irreconcilable, sworn enemies of
anti-semitism.
In the U.S.S.R. anti-semitism is punishable with
the utmost severity of the law as a phenomenon deeply
hostile to the Soviet system. Under U.S.S.R. law active
anti-semites are liable to the death penalty.
J. Stalin
January 12, 1931
First published
in the newspaper Pravda, No. 329,
November 30, 1936
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
Speech Delivered at the First All-Union Conference
of Leading Personnel of Socialist Industry 14
February 4, 1931
Comrades, the deliberations of your conference are
drawing to a close. You are now about to adopt resolutions. I have no doubt that they will be adopted unanimously. In these resolutions—I am somewhat familiar
with them—you approve the control figures of industry
for 1931 and pledge yourselves to fulfil them.
A Bolshevik’s word is his bond. Bolsheviks are in
the habit of fulfilling promises made by them. But
what does the pledge to fulfil the control figures for
1931 mean? It means ensuring a total increase of industrial output by 45 per cent. And that is a very big task.
More than that. Such a pledge means that you not only
pledge yourselves to fulfil our five-year plan in four
years—that matter has already been settled, and no
more resolutions on it are needed—it means that you
promise to fulfil it in three years in all the basic, decisive branches of industry.
It is good that the conference gives a promise to
fulfil the plan for 1931, to fulfil the five-year plan in
three years. But we have been taught by “bitter experience.” We know that promises are not always kept.
In the beginning of 1930, too, a promise was given to
fulfil the plan for the year. At that time it was necessary to increase the output of our industries by 31 to
32
J. V. S T A L I N
32 per cent. But that promise was not kept to the
full. Actually, the increase in industrial output during
1930 amounted to 25 per cent. We must ask: Will not
the same thing occur again this year? The managers
and leading personnel of our industries now promise
to increase industrial output in 1931 by 45 per cent.
But what guarantee is there that this promise will be
kept?
What is needed in order to fulfil the control figures,
to achieve a 45 per cent increase in output, to secure
the fulfilment of the five-year plan not in four, but, as
regards the basic and decisive branches of industry,
in three years?
Two fundamental conditions are needed for this.
Firstly, real or, as we term it, “objective” possibilities.
Secondly, the willingness and ability to direct our
enterprises in such a way as to realise these possibilities.
Did we have the “objective” possibilities last year
for completely fulfilling the plan? Yes, we had. Incontestable facts testify to this. These facts show that in
March and April of last year industry achieved an increase of 31 per cent in output compared with the previous year. Why then, it will be asked, did we fail to fulfil the plan for the whole year? What prevented it?
What was lacking? The ability to make use of the existing possibilities was lacking. The ability to manage the
factories, mills and mines properly was lacking.
We had the first condition: the “objective” possibilities for fulfilling the plan. But we did not have in
sufficient degree the second condition: the ability to
manage production. And precisely because we lacked
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
33
the ability to manage the factories, the plan was not
fulfilled. Instead of a 31-32 per cent increase we had
one of only 25 per cent.
Of course, a 25 per cent increase is a big thing. Not
a single capitalist country increased its production in
1930, or is increasing production now. In all capitalist
countries without exception a sharp decline in production is taking place. Under such circumstances a 25 per
cent increase is a big step forward. But we could have
achieved more. We had all the necessary “objective”
conditions for this.
And so, what guarantee is there that what happened
last year will not be repeated this year, that the plan
will be fulfilled, that we shall use the existing possibilities in the way that they should be used, that your
promise will not to some extent remain a promise on
paper?
In the history of states and countries, in the history of armies, there have been cases when there was
every possibility for success and victory, but these possibilities were wasted because the leaders failed to notice them, did not know how to take advantage of them,
and the armies suffered defeat.
Have we all the possibilities that are needed to fulfil the control figures for 1931?
Yes, we have such possibilities.
What are these possibilities? What is needed in order that these possibilities should really exist?
First of all, adequate natural resources in the country: iron ore, coal, oil, grain, cotton. Have we these
resources? Yes, we have. We have them in larger quantities than any other country. Take the Urals, for
34
J. V. S T A L I N
example, which provide a combination of resources not to
be found in any other country. Ore, coal, oil, grain—
what is there not in the Urals? We have everything in
our country, except, perhaps, rubber. But within a
year or two we shall have our own rubber as well As
far as natural resources are concerned we are fully provided. We have even more than necessary.
What else is needed?
A government desirous and capable of utilising these
immense natural resources for the benefit of the people.
Have we such a government? We have. True, our work
in utilising natural resources does not always proceed
without friction among our leading personnel. For instance, last year the Soviet Government had to conduct
a certain amount of struggle over the question of creating a second coal and metallurgical base, without which
we cannot develop further. But we have already overcome these obstacles and shall soon have this base.
What else is needed?
That this government should enjoy the support of
the vast masses of workers and peasants. Does our government enjoy such support? Yes, it does. You will
find no other government in the world that enjoys such
support from the workers and peasants as does the Soviet government. There is no need for me to refer to the
growth of socialist emulation, the spread of shock-brigade
work, the campaign and struggle for counter-plans. All
these facts, which vividly demonstrate the support that
the vast masses give the Soviet Government, are well
known.
What else is needed in order to fulfil and overfulfil the control figures for 1931?
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
35
A system that is free from the incurable diseases of
capitalism and has great advantages over capitalism.
Crises, unemployment, waste, destitution among the
masses—such are the incurable diseases of capitalism.
Our system does not suffer from these diseases because
power is in our hands, in the hands of the working class;
because we are conducting a planned economy, systematically accumulating resources and properly distributing them among the different branches of the national economy. We are free from the incurable diseases
of capitalism. That is what distinguishes us from capitalism; that is what constitutes our decisive superiority
over capitalism.
Notice the way in which the capitalists are trying
to escape from the economic crisis. They are reducing
the workers’ wages as much as possible. They are reducing the prices of raw materials as much as possible.
But they do not want to reduce the prices of food and
industrial commodities for mass consumption to any important extent. This means that they want to escape
from the crisis at the expense of the principal consumers, at the expense of the workers and peasants, at the
expense of the working people. The capitalists are cutting the ground from under their own feet. And instead of
overcoming the crisis they are aggravating it; new conditions are accumulating which lead to a new, even more
severe crisis.
Our superiority lies in the fact that we have no
crises of overproduction, we have not and never will have
millions of unemployed, we have no anarchy in production, for we are conducting a planned economy. But
that is not all. We are a land of the most concentrated
36
J. V. S T A L I N
industry. This means that we can build our industry on
the basis of the best technique and thereby secure an
unprecedented productivity of labour, an unprecedented
rate of accumulation. Our weakness in the past was that
this industry was based upon scattered and small peasant farming. That was so in the past; it is no longer
so now. Soon, perhaps within a year, we shall become
the country of the largest-scale agriculture in the world.
This year, the state farms and collective farms—and
these are forms of large-scale farming—have already supplied half of all our marketable grain. And that means
that our system, the Soviet system, affords us opportunities of rapid progress of which not a single bourgeois
country can dream.
What else is needed in order to advance with giant
strides?
A party sufficiently solid and united to direct the
efforts of all the best members of the working class to
one point, and sufficiently experienced to be unafraid
of difficulties and to pursue systematically a correct, revolutionary, Bolshevik policy. Have we such a party?
Yes, we have. Is its policy correct? Yes, it is, for it is
yielding important successes. This is now admitted not
only by the friends but also by the enemies of the working class. See how all the well-known “honourable” gentlemen, Fish in America, Churchill in Britain, Poincaré
in France, fume and rave against our Party. Why do
they fume and rave? Because the policy of our Party is
correct, because it is yielding success after success.
There, comrades, you have all those objective possibilities which assist us in realising the control figures
for 1931, which help us to fulfil the five-year plan in
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
37
four years, and in the key industries even in three
years.
Thus we have the first condition for fulfilment of
the plan—the “objective” possibilities.
Have we the second condition, the ability to use
these possibilities?
In other words, are our factories, mills and mines
properly managed? Is everything in order in this respect?
Unfortunately, not everything is in order here. And,
as Bolsheviks, we must say this plainly and frankly.
What does management of production mean? There
are people among us who do not always have a Bolshevik approach to the question of the management of our
factories. There are many people among us who think that
management is synonymous with signing papers and
orders. This is sad, but true. At times one cannot help
recalling Shchedrin’s Pompadours. Do you remember
how Madame Pompadour taught the young Pompadour:
“Don’t bother your head with science, don’t go into matters, let others do that, it is not your business—your
business is to sign papers.” It must be admitted to our
shame that even among us Bolsheviks there are not a
few who carry out management by signing papers. But
as for going into matters, mastering technique, becoming master of the business—why, that is out of the
question.
How is it that we Bolsheviks, who have made three
revolutions, who emerged victorious from the bitter
civil war, who have solved the tremendous task of building a modern industry, who have swung the peasantry on
to the path of socialism—how is it that in the matter of
the management of production we bow to a slip of paper?
38
J. V. S T A L I N
The reason is that it is easier to sign papers than to
manage production. And so, many economic executives
are taking this line of least resistance. We, too, in the
centre, are also to blame. About ten years ago a slogan
was issued: “Since Communists do not yet properly understand the technique of production, since they have
yet to learn the art of management, let the old technicians and engineers—the experts—carry on production,
and you, Communists, do not interfere with the technique
of the business; but, while not interfering, study technique, study the art of management tirelessly, in order later on, together with the experts who are loyal to us, to
become true managers of production, true masters of
the business.” Such was the slogan. But what actually
happened? The second part of this formula was cast aside,
for it is harder to study than to sign papers; and the first
part of the formula was vulgarised: non-interference was
interpreted to mean refraining from studying the technique of production. The result has been nonsense, harmful and dangerous nonsense, which the sooner we discard
the better.
Life itself has more than once warned us that all was
not well in this field. The Shakhty affair 15 was the first
grave warning. The Shakhty affair showed that the Party
organisations and the trade unions lacked revolutionary
vigilance. It showed that our economic executives were
disgracefully backward in technical knowledge; that
some of the old engineers and technicians, working without supervision, rather easily go over to wrecking activities, especially as they are constantly being besieged
by “offers” from our enemies abroad.
The second warning was the “Industrial Party” trial. 16
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
39
Of course, the underlying cause of wrecking activities is the class struggle. Of course, the class enemy furiously resists the socialist offensive. This alone, however,
is not an adequate explanation for the luxuriant growth
of wrecking activities.
How is it that wrecking activities assumed such wide
dimensions? Who is to blame for this? We are to blame.
Had we handled the business of managing production
differently, had we started much earlier to learn the
technique of the business, to master technique, had we
more frequently and efficiently intervened in the management of production, the wreckers would not have succeeded in doing so much damage.
We must ourselves become experts, masters of the
business; we must turn to technical science—such was
the lesson life itself was teaching us. But neither the first
warning nor even the second brought about the necessary
change. It is time, high time that we turned towards
technique. It is time to discard the old slogan, the obsolete slogan of non-interference in technique, and ourselves become specialists, experts, complete masters of
our economic affairs.
It is frequently asked: Why have we not one-man
management? We do not have it and we shall not get it
until we have mastered technique. Until there are among
us Bolsheviks a sufficient number of people thoroughly
familiar with technique, economy and finance, we shall
not have real one-man management. You can write as
many resolutions as you please, take as many vows as
you please, but, unless you master the technique, economy and finance of the mill, factory or mine, nothing
will come of it, there will be no one-man management.
40
J. V. S T A L I N
Hence, the task is for us to master technique ourselves, to become masters of the business ourselves. This
is the sole guarantee that our plans will be carried out in
full, and that one-man management will be established.
This, of course, is no easy matter; but it can certainly be accomplished. Science, technical experience, knowledge, are all things that can be acquired. We may not
have them today, but tomorrow we shall. The main thing
is to have the passionate Bolshevik desire to master
technique, to master the science of production. Everything can be achieved, everything can be overcome, if
there is a passionate desire for it.
It is sometimes asked whether it is not possible to
slow down the tempo somewhat, to put a check on the
movement. No, comrades, it is not possible! The tempo
must not be reduced! On the contrary, we must increase
it as much as is within our powers and possibilities.
This is dictated to us by our obligations to the workers
and peasants of the U.S.S.R. This is dictated to us by
our obligations to the working class of the whole world.
To slacken the tempo would mean falling behind.
And those who fall behind get beaten. But we do not want
to be beaten. No, we refuse to be beaten! One feature of
the history of old Russia was the continual beatings she
suffered because of her backwardness. She was beaten
by the Mongol khans. She was beaten by the Turkish
beys. She was beaten by the Swedish feudal lords. She
was beaten by the Polish and Lithuanian gentry. She was
beaten by the British and French capitalists. She was
beaten by the Japanese barons. All beat her—because
of her backwardness, because of her military backwardness,
cultural backwardness, political backwardness, industrial
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
41
backwardness, agricultural backwardness. They beat her
because it was profitable and could be done with
impunity. You remember the words of the pre-revolutionary poet: “You are poor and abundant, mighty and
impotent, Mother Russia.” 17 Those gentlemen were quite
familiar with the verses of the old poet. They beat her,
saying: “You are abundant,” so one can enrich oneself at
your expense. They beat her, saying: “You are poor and
impotent,” so you can be beaten and plundered with impunity. Such is the law of the exploiters—to beat the backward and the weak. It is the jungle law of capitalism.
You are backward, you are weak—therefore you are wrong;
hence you can be beaten and enslaved. You are mighty
—therefore you are right; hence we must be wary of you.
That is why we must no longer lag behind.
In the past we had no fatherland, nor could we have
had one. But now that we have overthrown capitalism and
power is in our hands, in the hands of the people, we have
a fatherland, and we will uphold its independence. Do
you want our socialist fatherland to be beaten and to lose
its independence? If you do not want this, you must put
an end to its backwardness in the shortest possible time
and develop a genuine Bolshevik tempo in building up its
socialist economy. There is no other way. That is why
Lenin said on the eve of the October Revolution: “Either
perish, or overtake and outstrip the advanced capitalist
countries.”
We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced
countries. We must make good this distance in ten years.
Either we do it, or we shall go under.
That is what our obligations to the workers and
peasants of the U.S.S.R. dictate to us.
42
J. V. S T A L I N
But we have yet other, more serious and more important, obligations. They are our obligations to the
world proletariat. They coincide with our obligations to
the workers and peasants of the U.S.S.R. But we place
them higher. The working class of the U.S.S.R. is part
of the world working class. We achieved victory not
solely through the efforts of the working class of the
U.S.S.R., but also thanks to the support of the working
class of the world. Without this support we would have
been torn to pieces long ago. It is said that our country
is the shock brigade of the proletariat of all countries.
That is well said. But is imposes very serious obligations
upon us. Why does the international proletariat support
us? How did we merit this support? By the fact that we
were the first to hurl ourselves into the battle against
capitalism, we were the first to establish working-class
state power, we were the first to begin building socialism.
By the fact that we were engaged on a cause which, if successful, will transform the whole world and free the entire working class. But what is needed for success? The elimination
of our backwardness, the development of a high Bolshevik tempo of construction. We must march forward in
such a way that the working class of the whole world,
looking at us, may say: There you have my advanced
detachment, my shock brigade, my working-class state
power, my fatherland; they are engaged on their cause,
our cause, and they are working well; let us support
them against the capitalists and promote the cause of
the world revolution. Must we not justify the hopes
of the world’s working class, must we not fulfil our obligations to them? Yes, we must if we do not want to utterly disgrace ourselves.
THE TASKS OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
43
Such are our obligations, internal and international.
As you see, they dictate to us a Bolshevik tempo of
development.
I will not say that we have accomplished nothing in
regard to management of production during these years.
In fact, we have accomplished a good deal. We have
doubled our industrial output compared with the pre-war
level. We have created the largest-scale agricultural
production in the world. But we could have accomplished
still more if we had tried during this period really to
master production, the technique of production, the financial and economic side of it.
In ten years at most we must make good the distance
that separates us from the advanced capitalist countries.
We have all the “objective” possibilities for this. The
only thing lacking is the ability to make proper use of
these possibilities. And that depends on us. Only on us!
It is time we learned to make use of these possibilities. It
is time to put an end to the rotten line of non-interference
in production. It is time to adopt a new line, one corresponding to the present period—the line of interfering in
everything. If you are a factory manager—interfere in all
the affairs of the factory, look into everything, let nothing escape you, learn and learn again. Bolsheviks must
master technique. It is time Bolsheviks themselves became experts. In the period of reconstruction, technique
decides everything. And an economic executive who does
not want to study technique, who does not want to master
technique, is a joke and not an executive.
It is said that it is hard to master technique. That
is not true! There are no fortresses that Bolsheviks cannot
capture. We have solved a number of most difficult prob-
44
J. V. S T A L I N
lems. We have overthrown capitalism. We have assumed
power. We have built up a huge socialist industry. We
have transferred the middle peasants on to the path of
socialism. We have already accomplished what is most
important from the point of view of construction. What
remains to be done is not so much: to study technique, to
master science. And when we have done that we shall
develop a tempo of which we dare not even dream at
present.
And we shall do it if we really want to.
Pravda, No. 35,
February 5, 1931
LETTER TO COMRADE ETCHIN
Comrade Etchin,
I was unable (for lack of time!) to read your pamphlet but I can reply briefly to your four questions.
1) “Inner-Party contradictions.” Ever since Engels’s
day the proposition that the development of proletarian
parties takes place through the overcoming of internal
Party contradictions has been axiomatic. These contradictions find expression in overt or covert disagreements.
Ossovsky has nothing to do with the matter here, since he
wrongly considered our Party, for instance, to be a bloc
of two antagonistic classes, as the representative of these
classes, whereas our Party (like the other sections of
the Comintern) is in actual fact the representative of
one class, namely, the working class. And, after all, we
are concerned with the Communist Parties, each of which
is the representative of one (the proletarian) class.
2) Leninism. There can be no doubt that Leninism
is the most Left (without quotation marks) trend in the
world labour movement. The labour movement contains
all kinds of trends, from the feudal-monarchist (such as
“the League of the Russian People”) and the openly capitalist trend (such as the Cadets) to the covertly-bourgeois
trend (Social-Democrats, particularly the “Left” SocialDemocrats, Anarchists, Anarcho-Syndicalists) and the
46
J. V. S T A L I N
ultra-Left “communist” trend. The most Left of these,
and the only consistently revolutionary trend, is
Leninism.
3) The roots of the “Left” and Right deviations. Their
roots are common in the sense that they both reflect the
pressure of classes alien to us. Their forms and means
of struggle against the Party differ in accordance with
the differences in the social strata which they, i.e., the
deviations, represent.
4) The struggle on two fronts. There is nothing to
explain here. I fail to understand why Comrade Kantor
disagrees with you.
With communist greetings,
J. Stalin
February 27, 1931
Published for the first time
GREETINGS TO THE STAFFS
OF AZNEFT AND GROZNEFT
I congratulate the workers and the administrative
and technical personnel of the State Association of the
Azerbaijanian Oil Industry and of the State Association
of the Grozny Oil and Gas Industry on the fulfilment of
the five-year plan in two and a half years. Congratulations on your victory, comrades!
Long live the workers of the U.S.S.R., who have broken the chains of capitalism and become the masters
of their country!
Long live Soviet Power! Long live the Party of the
Bolsheviks!
J. Stalin
March 31, 1931
Pravda, No. 90,
April 1, 1931
TO ELEKTROZAVOD
Ardent greetings to the workers and the administrative and technical personnel of Elektrozavod, who have
fulfilled the five-year plan in two and a half years.
Forward to further victories!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 92,
April 3, 1931
MAGNITOGORSK IRON AND STEEL
WORKS PROJECT, MAGNITOGORSK
I congratulate the Magnitogorsk workers and executive
staff on their first important victory. 18
Forward, comrades, to new victories!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 136,
May 19, 1931
TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
OF THE ALL-UNION CENTRE
OF MACHINE AND TRACTOR STATIONS.
TO ALL MACHINE AND TRACTOR
STATIONS
Fraternal greetings to the working men and working
women, to the technicians and specialists and the entire
executive staff of the machine and tractor stations on
the occasion of the pre-schedule fulfilment of the plan for
sowing 18,000,000 hectares.
Congratulations on your victory, comrades!
Last year about 2,000,000 hectares of collectivefarm fields were sown by machine and tractor stations.
This year—more than 18,000,000 hectares. Last year the
machine and tractor stations served 2,347 collective farms.
This year—46,514 collective farms. From the wooden
plough to the tractor—such is the path travelled by the
peasant farms of our country. Let everyone know that the
working class of the Soviet Union is firmly and confidently promoting the technical re-equipment of its ally,
the labouring peasantry!
Let us hope that the machine and tractor stations
will not rest content with the results achieved, but will,
by way of a counter-plan, increase the 18,000,000 hectares
of sown area assigned in the plan (and already fulfilled)
to 20,000,000 hectares.
TO ALL MACHINE AND TRACTORS STATIONS
51
Let us hope that the machine and tractor stations will
not stop at this, but will confidently tackle their next
tasks: to prepare about 5,000,000 hectares of fallow land,
successfully carry out the harvesting campaign, do about
15,000,000 hectares of autumn ploughing, raise the winter-crop area to 8,000,000 hectares, organise a further
thousand machine and tractor stations and thus establish
the basis for serving the overwhelming majority of collective farms next year.
Let everybody know that the Soviet Union is being
transformed from a country of small-peasant economy and
backward agricultural technique into a country of largescale, collective economy with the most modern agricultural technique!
Forward, comrades, to new victories!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 145,
May 28, 1931
TO THE CHAIRMAN
OF THE GRAIN TRUST BOARD.
TO ALL STATE GRAIN FARMS
Fraternal greetings to the leading force of the new
Soviet agriculture, to the socialist standard-bearer of
the new technique and the new methods of organising
agriculture, to the system of state grain farms, its working
men and working women, its technicians and specialists,
its leaders and instructors!
Do not rest content with having fulfilled the sowing
plan. You can and must overfulfil this plan, for you have
every possibility required for doing so.
Bring into line your lagging detachments in Siberia
and especially in the Far East, render the utmost assistance to the collective farms, get the preparations for the
harvest under way—the chief immediate task of the state
grain farms—and achieve new successes.
Forward to new victories!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 147,
May 30, 1931
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS
IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
Speech Delivered
at a Conference of Business Executives 19
June 23, 1931
Comrades, the materials presented to this conference
show that as regards the fulfilment of the plan our industry presents a rather motley picture. There are branches
of industry that have increased their output during
the past five months 40 to 50 per cent compared with last
year. Other branches have increased their output not more
than 20 to 30 per cent. Lastly, there are certain branches
that show a very small increase, some 6 to 10 per cent
and sometimes even less. Among the latter we must include coal mining and the iron and steel industry. The
picture, as you see, is a motley one.
How is this diversity to be explained? Why are certain branches of industry lagging behind? Why is it that
certain branches of industry show an increase of only 20
to 25 per cent, while coal mining and the iron and steel
industry show an even smaller increase and are trailing
behind other branches?
The reason is that lately the conditions of development of industry have radically changed; new conditions
demanding new methods of management have arisen;
but some of our economic executives, instead of changing
their methods of work, are continuing in the old way. The
54
J. V. S T A L I N
point, therefore, is that the new conditions of development of industry require new methods of work; but some
of our economic executives do not understand this and do
not see that they must now adopt new methods of management.
That is the reason why certain branches of our industry are lagging behind.
What are these new conditions of development of our
industry? How did they arise?
There are at least six such new conditions.
Let us examine them.
I
MANPOWER
First of all, there is the question of the supply
of manpower for our factories. Formerly, the workers
usually came of their own accord to the factories and
mills—to some extent, therefore, things proceeded automatically in this sphere. And this happened because there
was unemployment, there was differentiation in the countryside, there was poverty and fear of starvation, which
drove people from the country to the town. You remember
the formula: “The flight of the peasant from the country
to the town”? What compelled the peasant to flee from
the country to the town? The fear of starvation, unemployment, the fact that the village was like a stepmother
to him, and he was ready to flee from his village to
the devil himself, if only he could find some sort of
work.
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
55
Such, or nearly such, was the state of affairs in the
recent past.
Can it be said that the same conditions prevail now?
No, it cannot. On the contrary, conditions have now radically changed. And because conditions have changed
we no longer have an automatic influx of manpower.
What, in point of fact, has changed during this period? Firstly, we have done away with unemployment—
consequently, we have abolished the force that exercised
pressure upon the “labour market.” Secondly, we have
radically undermined differentiation in the countryside
—consequently, we have overcome the mass poverty there,
which drove the peasant from the country to the town.
Lastly, we have supplied the countryside with tens of
thousands of tractors and agricultural machines, we have
smashed the kulak, we have organised collective farms
and have given the peasants the opportunity to live and
work like human beings. Now the countryside cannot any
longer be termed a stepmother to the peasant. And precisely because it can no longer be termed a stepmother, the
peasant has begun to settle down in the countryside;
we no longer have “the flight of the peasant from the
country to the town,” nor an automatic influx of manpower.
As you see, we now have an entirely new situation
and new conditions in regard to the supply of manpower for our factories.
What follows from that?
It follows, firstly, that we must no longer count on
an automatic influx of manpower. This means that
we must pass from the “policy” of letting things proceed
automatically to the policy of organised recruiting of
56
J. V. S T A L I N
workers for industry. But there is only one way of achieving this—that of contracts of economic organisations with
collective farms and collective farmers. As you know,
certain economic organisations and collective farms have
already adopted this method; and experience has shown
that this practice yields important advantages both for
the collective farms and for the industrial enterprises.
It follows, secondly, that we must pass immediately
to mechanisation of the heavier processes of labour and
develop this to the utmost (timber industry, building
industry, coal mining, loading and unloading, transport,
iron and steel industry, etc.). This, of course, does not
mean that we must abandon manual labour. On the contrary, manual labour will continue to play a very important part in production for a long time to come. But
it does mean that mechanisation of labour processes is
for us the new and decisive force, without which neither
our tempo nor the new scale of production can be maintained.
There are still quite a number of our economic executives who “do not believe” either in mechanisation or in
contracts with collective farms. These are the very executives who fail to understand the new situation, who do
not want to work in the new way and sigh for the “good
old times” when manpower “came of its own accord”
to the enterprises. Needless to say, such economic executives are as remote from the new tasks in economic construction, which are imposed by the new conditions, as
the sky from the earth. Apparently they think that the
difficulties in regard to manpower are accidental
and that the shortage of manpower will disappear
automatically, so to speak. That is a delusion, comrades.
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
57
The difficulties in regard to manpower cannot disappear of themselves. They can disappear only as the result of our own efforts.
Hence the task is to recruit manpower in an organised way, by means of contracts with the collective
farms, and to mechanise labour.
That is how matters stand with regard to the first new
condition of development of our industry.
Let us pass to the second condition.
II
WAGES
I have just spoken about the organised recruiting of
workers for our factories. But recruiting workers is not
all that has to be done. In order to ensure manpower
for our enterprises we must see to it that the workers
are stably connected with their factories and make the
composition of the labour force in the factories more or
less constant. It scarcely needs proof that without a
constant labour force who have more or less mastered the
technique of production and have become accustomed
to the new machinery it will be impossible to make any
headway, impossible to fulfil the production plans.
Unless this is achieved, we shall have to keep on training
new workers and to spend half the time on training them
instead of making use of this time for production. But
what is actually happening now? Can it be said that the
composition of the labour force at our factories is more
or less constant? Unfortunately, this cannot be said. On
the contrary, we still have a so-called fluidity of manpower at our factories. More than that, in a number of
58
J. V. S T A L I N
factories the fluidity of manpower, far from disappearing, is increasing and becoming more marked. At any rate,
you will find few factories where the personnel does not
change at least to the extent of 30 to 40 per cent of the
total in the course of half a year, or even in one quarter.
Formerly, during the period of restoration of our
industry, when its technical equipment was not very
complex and the scale of production not very large, it
was more or less possible to “tolerate” this so-called fluidity of manpower. Now it is another matter. Now the
situation is radically different. Now, in the period of
intensive reconstruction, when the scale of production
has become gigantic and technical equipment has become
extremely complex, the fluidity of manpower has become a scourge of production and is disorganising our
factories. To “tolerate” the fluidity of manpower now
would mean disintegrating our industry, destroying the
possibility of fulfilling production plans and ruining any
chance of improving the quality of the output.
What is the cause of the fluidity of manpower?
The cause is the wrong structure of wages, the wrong
wage scales, the “Leftist” practice of wage equalisation.
In a number of factories wage scales are drawn up in
such a way as to practically wipe out the difference between skilled and unskilled labour, between heavy and
light work. The consequence of wage equalisation is that
the unskilled worker lacks the incentive to become
a skilled worker and is thus deprived of the prospect of
advancement; as a result he feels himself a “visitor” in
the factory, working only temporarily so as to “earn a
little money” and then go off to “try his luck” in some
other place. The consequence of wage equalisation is
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
59
that the skilled worker is obliged to go from factory to
factory until he finds one where his skill is properly
appreciated.
Hence, the “general” drift from factory to factory;
hence, the fluidity of manpower.
In order to put an end to this evil we must abolish
wage equalisation and discard the old wage scales. In
order to put an end to this evil we must draw up wage scales
that will take into account the difference between skilled
and unskilled labour, between heavy and light work.
We cannot tolerate a situation where a rolling-mill worker in the iron and steel industry earns no more than a
sweeper. We cannot tolerate a situation where a locomotive driver earns only as much as a copying clerk. Marx
and Lenin said that the difference between skilled and
unskilled labour would exist even under socialism, even
after classes had been abolished; that only under communism would this difference disappear and that, consequently, even under socialism “wages” must be paid
according to work performed and not according to needs.
But the equalitarians among our economic executives
and trade-union officials do not agree with this and believe that under our Soviet system this difference has already disappeared. Who is right, Marx and Lenin or the
equalitarians? It must be assumed that it is Marx and
Lenin who are right. But it follows from this that whoever draws up wage scales on the “principle” of wage
equalisation, without taking into account the difference
between skilled and unskilled labour, breaks with Marxism, breaks with Leninism.
In every branch of industry, in every factory, in every
shop, there is a leading group of more or less skilled
60
J. V. S T A L I N
workers who first and foremost must be retained if we
really want to ensure a constant labour force in the
factories. These leading groups of workers are the principal link in production. By retaining them in the
factory, in the shop, we can retain the whole labour force and radically prevent the fluidity of manpower. But how can we retain them in the factories?
We can retain them only by promoting them to higher
positions, by raising the level of their wages, by introducing a system of wages that will give the worker his
due according to qualification.
And what does promoting them to higher positions
and raising their wage level mean, what can it lead to
as far as unskilled workers are concerned? It means, apart
from everything else, opening up prospects for the unskilled
worker and giving him an incentive to rise higher, to
rise to the category of a skilled worker. You know yourselves that we now need hundreds of thousands and even
millions of skilled workers. But in order to build up cadres of skilled workers, we must provide an incentive for
the unskilled workers, provide for them a prospect of
advancement, of rising to a higher position. And the more
boldly we adopt this course the better, for this is the principal means of putting an end to the fluidity of manpower. To economise in this matter would be criminal,
it would be going against the interests of our socialist
industry.
But that is not all.
In order to retain the workers in the factories we
must still further improve the supply of goods and the
housing conditions of the workers. It cannot be denied
that a good deal has been done during the last few years in
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
61
the sphere of housing construction and supplies for the
workers. But what has been done is altogether inadequate compared with the rapidly growing requirements
of the workers. It will not do to plead that there were
fewer houses before than there are now and that therefore
we can be content with the results achieved. Nor will
it do to plead that workers’ supplies were far worse before than they are now and therefore we can be satisfied
with the present situation. Only those who are rotten
to the core can content themselves with references to
the past. We must proceed, not from the past, but from
the growing requirements of the workers at the present
time. We must realise that the conditions of life of the workers have radically changed in our country. The worker today is not what he was previously. The worker today,
our Soviet worker, wants to have all his material and
cultural needs satisfied: in respect of food, housing conditions, cultural and all sorts of other requirements. He
has a right to this, and it is our duty to secure these conditions for him. True, our worker does not suffer from
unemployment; he is free from the yoke of capitalism;
he is no longer a slave, but the master of his job. But this
is not enough. He demands that all his material and cultural requirements be met, and it is our duty to fulfil
this demand of his. Do not forget that we ourselves are
now making certain demands on the worker—we demand
from him labour discipline, intense effort, emulation,
shock-brigade work. Do not forget that the vast majority of workers have accepted these demands of the
Soviet Government with great enthusiasm and are
fulfilling them heroically. Do not be surprised, therefore, if, while fulfilling the demands of the Soviet
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J. V. S T A L I N
Government, the workers in their turn demand that the
Soviet Government should fulfil its obligations in regard
to further improving their material and cultural condition.
Hence, the task is to put an end to the fluidity of
manpower, to do away with wage equalisation, to organise
wages properly and to improve the living conditions of the
workers.
That is how matters stand with regard to the second
new condition of development of our industry.
Let us pass to the third condition.
III
THE ORGANISATION OF WORK
I have said that it is necessary to put an end to the
fluidity of manpower, to retain the workers in the
factories. But retaining the workers in the factories
is not all; the matter does not end there. It is not enough
to put an end to the fluidity of manpower. We must
provide the workers with such working conditions as will
enable them to work efficiently, to increase productivity
and to improve the quality of the products. Consequently,
we must so organise work in the factories as to bring about
an increase in labour productivity from month to month,
from quarter to quarter.
Can it be said that the present organisation of work
in our factories meets the modern requirements of
production? Unfortunately, this cannot be said. At all
events, we still have a number of factories where
work is organised abominably, where instead of order
and co-ordination of work there is disorder and mud-
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
63
dle, where instead of responsibility for the work there
is absolute irresponsibility, lack of personal responsibility.
What is meant by lack of personal responsibility?
It is the absence of any responsibility for work that is
entrusted to one, the absence of responsibility for machinery and tools. Naturally, when there is no personal
responsibility there can be no question of any important
increase in the productivity of labour, of any improvement in the quality of production, of the exercise of care
in handling machinery and tools. You know what lack
of personal responsibility led to on the railways. It is
leading to the same result in industry. We have abolished
the system under which there was lack of personal responsibility on the railways and have thus improved their
work. We must do the same in industry in order to raise
its work to a higher level.
Formerly, we could “manage” somehow or other with
the bad organisation of work that goes naturally with
lack of personal responsibility, with no worker being
responsible for a particular concrete job. Now it is another matter. Now the situation is completely different.
With the present vast scale of production and the existence of giant enterprises, lack of personal responsibility
has become a scourge of industry that is jeopardising
all our achievements in the factories in the sphere of
production and organisation.
What enabled lack of personal responsibility to become the rule in a number of our factories? It entered the
factories as the illegitimate companion of the uninterrupted working-week. It would be wrong to assert that
the uninterrupted working week necessarily leads to
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J. V. S T A L I N
lack of personal responsibility in production. If work is
properly organised, if each person is made responsible for
a definite job, if definite groups of workers are assigned
to machines, if the shifts are properly organised so that
they are equal in quality and skill—given such conditions, the uninterrupted working-week leads to a tremendous increase in labour productivity, to an improvement
in quality of work and to eliminating lack of personal
responsibility. Such is the case on the railways, for example, where the uninterrupted working-week is now in
force, but where there is no longer lack of personal responsibility. Can it be said that the position in regard to the
uninterrupted working-week is equally satisfactory in
industrial enterprises? Unfortunately, this can not be
said. The fact of the matter is that a number of our factories adopted the uninterrupted working-week too hastily, without preparing suitable conditions for it, without properly organising shifts more or less equal in quality
and skill, without making each worker responsible for
a particular concrete job. The result is that the uninterrupted working-week, left to itself, has given rise to lack
of personal responsibility. The result is that in a number
of factories we have the uninterrupted working-week on
paper, in words, and lack of personal responsibility not
on paper, but in actual operation. The result is that there
is no sense of responsibility for the job, machinery is handled carelessly, large numbers of machine tools break down,
and there is no incentive for increasing the productivity
of labour. It is not for nothing that the workers say:
“We could raise the productivity of labour and improve
matters; but who is going to appreciate it when nobody
is responsible for anything?”
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
65
It follows from this that some of our comrades were
a little hasty in introducing the uninterrupted workingweek, and in their hurry distorted it and transformed it
into a system of lack of personal responsibility.
There are two ways of putting an end to this situation and of doing away with lack of personal responsibility. Either change the method of carrying out the uninterrupted working week so that it does not result in lack
of personal responsibility, as was done on the railways.
Or, where the conditions do not favour this, abandon
the nominal uninterrupted working week, temporarily
adopt the interrupted, six-day week, as was recently
done in the Stalingrad Tractor Works, and prepare the
conditions so as to return, should the need arise, to a real,
not nominal, uninterrupted working-week; to return
eventually to the uninterrupted working-week, but not
to lack of personal responsibility.
There is no other way.
There can be no doubt that our economic executives
understand all this very well. But they keep silent. Why?
Because, evidently, they fear the truth. But since when
have Bolsheviks begun to fear the truth? Is it not true
that in a number of factories the uninterrupted working-week has resulted in lack of personal responsibility
and has thus been distorted to an extreme degree? The
question is: Who wants such an uninterrupted workingweek? Who dares assert that the preservation of this
nominal and distorted uninterrupted working-week is
more important than the proper organisation of work,
than increased productivity of labour, than a genuine
uninterrupted working-week, than the interests of our
socialist industry? Is it not clear that the sooner we bury
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J. V. S T A L I N
the nominal uninterrupted working-week the sooner shall
we achieve a proper organisation of work?
Some comrades think that we can do away with the
lack of personal responsibility by means of incantations
and high sounding speeches. At any rate, I know a number of economic executives who in their fight against
lack of personal responsibility confine themselves to
speaking at meetings now and again, hurling curses at
the lack of personal responsibility, apparently believing
that after such speeches lack of personal responsibility
is bound to disappear automatically, so to speak. They
are grievously mistaken if they think that lack of personal responsibility can be done away with by speeches and
incantations. No, comrades, lack of personal responsibility will never disappear of itself. We alone can and must
put an end to it; for it is you and I who are at the helm
and it is you and I who are answerable for everything,
including lack of personal responsibility. I think that
it would be far better if our economic executives, instead
of making speeches and incantations, spent a month or
two at some mine or factory, studied all details and
“trifles” relating to the organisation of work, actually
put an end there to lack of personal responsibility and
then applied the experience gained at this enterprise to
other enterprises. That would be far better. That would
be really fighting against lack of personal responsibility, fighting for the proper, Bolshevik organisation of
work, for the proper distribution of forces in our enterprises.
Hence, the task is to put an end to lack of personal
responsibility, to improve the organisation of work and to
secure the proper distribution of forces in our enterprises.
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
67
That is how matters stand with regard to the third
new condition of development of our industry.
Let us pass to the fourth condition.
IV
A WORKING-CLASS INDUSTRIAL
AND TECHNICAL INTELLIGENTSIA
FROM MARX
The situation has also changed in regard to the
MAO
administrative staffTO
of industry
in general, and in re-
gard to the engineering and technical personnel in particular.
Formerly, the situation was that the main source of
supply for all our industry was the coal and metallurgical base in the Ukraine. The Ukraine supplied metal
to all our industrial regions: both to the South and to
Moscow and Leningrad. It also supplied coal to the principal enterprises in the U.S.S.R. I leave out the Urals
because the relative importance of the entire Urals was
very small compared with the Donets Basin. Accordingly, we had three main centres for training an administrative staff for industry: the South, the Moscow district
and the Leningrad district. Naturally, under those conditions we could somehow manage with the very small
engineering and technical forces that were all that our
country could have at its disposal at that time.
That was the position in the recent past.
But the situation is now quite different. Now it is
obvious, I think, that with the present rate of development and gigantic scale of production we are already
unable to make do with the Ukrainian coal and metallurgical base alone. As you know, the supply of Ukrainian
NOT FOR
COMMERCIAL
DISTRIBUTION
68
J. V. S T A L I N
coal and metal is already in adequate, in spite of the
increase in their output. As you know, we have been obliged, as a result of this, to create a new coal and metallurgical base in the East—the Urals-Kuznetsk Basin.
As you know, our work to create this base has been not
without success. But that is not enough. We must, further, create a metallurgical industry in Siberia itself
to satisfy its own growing requirements. And we are already creating it. Besides this, we must create a new
base for non-ferrous metals in Kazakhstan and Turkestan.
Finally, we must develop extensive railway construction.
That is dictated by the interests of the U.S.S.R. as a
whole—by the interests of the border republics as well
as of the centre.
But it follows from this that we can no longer make
do with the very small engineering, technical and administrative forces of industry with which we managed formerly. It follows that the old centres for training engineering and technical forces are no longer adequate,
that we must create a whole network of new centres—in
the Urals, in Siberia and in Central Asia. We must now
ensure the supply of three times, five times the number
of engineering, technical and administrative forces for
industry if we really intend to carry out the programme
of the socialist industrialisation of the U.S.S.R.
But we do not need just any kind of administrative,
engineering and technical forces. We need such administrative, engineering and technical forces as are capable
of understanding the policy of the working class of our
country, capable of assimilating that policy and ready
to carry it out conscientiously. And what does this
mean? It means that our country has entered a phase of
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
69
development in which the working class must create its
own industrial and technical intelligentsia, one that is
capable of upholding the interests of the working class
in production as the interests of the ruling class.
No ruling class has managed without its own intelligentsia. There are no grounds for believing that the
working class of the U.S.S.R. can manage without its
own industrial and technical intelligentsia.
The Soviet Government has taken this circumstance
into account and has opened wide the doors of all the
higher educational institutions in every branch of national economy to members of the working class and labouring peasantry. You know that tens of thousands of
working-class and peasant youths are now studying in
higher educational institutions. Whereas formerly, under
capitalism, the higher educational institutions were the
monopoly of the scions of the rich—today, under the
Soviet system, the working-class and peasant youth
predominate there. There is no doubt that our educational
institutions will soon be turning out thousands of new
technicians and engineers, new leaders for our industries.
But that is only one aspect of the matter. The other
aspect is that the industrial and technical intelligentsia
of the working class will be recruited not only from those
who have had higher education, but also from practical
workers in our factories, from the skilled workers, from
the working-class cultural forces in the mills, factories
and mines. The initiators of emulation, the leaders of
shock brigades, those who in practice inspire labour
enthusiasm, the organisers of operations in the various
sectors of our work of construction—such is the new
stratum of the working class that, together with the
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J. V. S T A L I N
comrades who have had higher education, must form the
core of the intelligentsia of the working class, the core
of the administrative staff of our industry. The task
is to see that these “rank-and-file” comrades who show
initiative are not pushed aside, to promote them boldly
to responsible positions, to give them the opportunity
to display their organising abilities and the opportunity
to supplement their knowledge, to create suitable conditions for their work, not stinting money for this purpose.
Among these comrades there are not a few non-Party
people. But that should not prevent us from boldly promoting them to leading positions. On the contrary, it
is particularly these non-Party comrades who must receive our special attention, who must be promoted to
responsible positions so that they may see for themselves
that the Party appreciates capable and gifted workers.
Some comrades think that only Party members may
be placed in leading positions in the mills and factories.
That is the reason why they not infrequently push aside
non-Party comrades who possess ability and initiative
and put Party members at the top instead, although they
may be less capable and show no initiative. Needless to
say, there is nothing more stupid and reactionary than
such a “policy,” if one may call it such. It scarcely needs
proof that such a “policy” can only discredit the Party
and repel non-Party workers from it. Our policy does not
by any means lie in converting the Party into an exclusive caste. Our policy is to ensure that there is an atmosphere of “mutual confidence,” of “mutual control” (Lenin),
among Party and non-Party workers. One of the reasons
why our Party is strong among the working class is that
it pursues this policy.
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
71
Hence, the task is to see to it that the working class
of the U.S.S.R. has its own industrial and technical intelligentsia.
That is how matters stand with regard to the fourth
new condition of development of our industry.
Let us pass to the fifth condition.
V
SIGNS OF A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE
AMONG THE OLD INDUSTRIAL
AND TECHNICAL INTELLIGENTSIA
The question of our attitude towards the old, bourgeois industrial and technical intelligentsia is also presented in a new light.
About two years ago the situation was that the more
highly skilled section of the old technical intelligentsia
was infected with the disease of wrecking. More than
that, at that time wrecking was a sort of fashionable activity. Some engaged in wrecking, others shielded the
wreckers, others again washed their hands of what was
going on and remained neutral, while still others vacillated between the Soviet regime and the wreckers. Of
course, the majority of the old technical intelligentsia
continued to work more or less loyally. But we are not
speaking here of the majority, but of the most highly
skilled section of the technical intelligentsia.
What gave rise to the wrecking movement? What
fostered it? The intensification of the class struggle in
the U.S.S.R., the Soviet Government’s policy of offensive against the capitalist elements in town and country,
the resistance of these elements to the policy of the Soviet
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J. V. S T A L I N
Government, the complexity of the international situation and the difficulties of collective-farm and state-farm
development. While the activities of the militant
section of the wreckers were augmented by the interventionist intrigues of the imperialists in the capitalist countries and by the grain difficulties within
our country, the vacillations of the other section of the
old technical intelligentsia towards the active wreckers
were encouraged by utterances that were in fashion among
the Trotskyite-Menshevik windbags to the effect that
“nothing will come of the collective farms and state farms
anyway,” that “the Soviet power is degenerating anyway and is bound to collapse very soon,” that “the Bolsheviks by their policy are themselves facilitating intervention,” etc., etc. Besides, if even certain old Bolsheviks
among the Right deviators could not resist the “epidemic” and swung away from the Party at that time, it is not
surprising that a certain section of the old technical intelligentsia who had never had any inkling of Bolshevism
should, with the help of God, also vacillate.
Naturally, under such circumstances, the Soviet Government could pursue only one policy towards the old
technical intelligentsia—the policy of smashing the active
wreckers, differentiating the neutrals and enlisting those
who were loyal.
That was a year or two ago.
Can we say that the situation is exactly the same
now? No, we cannot. On the contrary, an entirely new
situation has arisen. To begin with, there is the fact
that we have routed and are successfully overcoming the
capitalist elements in town and country. Of course, this
cannot evoke joy among the old intelligentsia. Very prob-
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
73
ably they still express sympathy for their defeated
friends. But sympathisers, still less those who are neutral
or vacillating, are not in the habit of voluntarily agreeing
to share the fate of their more active friends when the
latter have suffered severe and irreparable defeat.
Further, we have overcome the grain difficulties,
and not only have we overcome them but we are now exporting a larger quantity of grain than has ever been
exported since the existence of the Soviet power. Consequently, this “argument” of the vacillators also falls to
the ground.
Furthermore, even the blind can now see that as regards the front of collective-farm and state-farm development we have gained a definite victory and achieved tremendous successes.
Consequently, the chief weapon in the “arsenal” of the
old intelligentsia has gone by the board. As for the
bourgeois intelligentsia’s hopes of intervention, it must
be admitted that, for the time being at least, they have
proved to be a house built on sand; Indeed, for six years
intervention has been promised, but not a single attempt
at intervention has been made. The time has come to recognise that our sapient bourgeois intelligentsia has
simply been led by the nose. That is apart from the fact
that the conduct of the active wreckers at the famous
trial in Moscow was bound to discredit, and actually did
discredit, the idea of wrecking.
Naturally, these new circumstances could not but influence our old technical intelligentsia. The new situation was bound to give rise, and did actually give rise,
to new sentiments among the old technical intelligentsia.
This, in fact, explains why there are definite signs of a
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J. V. S T A L I N
change of attitude in favour of the Soviet regime on the
part of a certain section of this intelligentsia that
formerly sympathised with the wreckers. The fact that
not only this stratum of the old intelligentsia, but even
definite wreckers of yesterday, a considerable number
of them, are beginning in many factories and mills
to work hand in hand with the working class—this fact
shows without a doubt that a change of attitude among
the old technical intelligentsia has already begun. This,
of course, does not mean that there are no longer any
wreckers in the country. No, it does not mean that.
Wreckers exist and will continue to exist as long as we
have classes and as long as capitalist encirclement exists.
But it does mean that, since a large section of the old technical intelligentsia who formerly sympathised, in one way
or another, with the wreckers have now made a turn to
the side of the Soviet regime, the active wreckers have
become few in number, are isolated and will have to go
deeply under ground for the time being.
But it follows from this that we must change our
policy towards the old technical intelligentsia accordingly. Whereas during the height of the wrecking activities our attitude towards the old technical intelligentsia was mainly expressed by the policy of routing them,
now, when these intellectuals are turning to the side
of the Soviet regime, our attitude towards them must
be expressed mainly by the policy of enlisting them and
showing solicitude for them. It would be wrong and undialectical to continue our former policy under the new,
changed conditions. It would be stupid and unwise
to regard practically every expert and engineer of the
old school as an undetected criminal and wrecker. We
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
75
have always regarded and still regard “expert-baiting”
as a harmful and disgraceful phenomenon.
Hence, the task is to change our attitude towards
the engineers and technicians of the old school, to show
them greater attention and solicitude, to enlist their cooperation more boldly.
That is how matters stand with regard to the fifth
new condition of development of our industry.
Let us pass to the last condition.
VI
BUSINESS ACCOUNTING
The picture would be incomplete if I did not deal
with one more new condition. I refer to the sources of
capital accumulation for industry, for the national economy; I refer to the need for increasing the rate of accumulation.
What is the new and special feature of the development of our industry from the point of view of accumulation? It is that the old sources of accumulation are already beginning to be inadequate for the further expansion of industry; that it is necessary, therefore, to seek
new sources of accumulation and to reinforce the old
sources if we really want to maintain and develop the
Bolshevik tempo of industrialisation.
We know from the history of the capitalist countries
that not a single young state that desired to raise its
industry to a higher level was able to dispense with external aid in the form of long-term credits or loans. For
this reason the capitalists in the Western countries
point-blank refused credits or loans to our country, in
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J. V. S T A L I N
the belief that the lack of credits and loans would certainly prevent the industrialisation of our country. But
the capitalists were mistaken. They failed to take into account the fact that our country, unlike the capitalist
countries, possesses certain special sources of accumulation sufficient to restore and further develop our industry. And indeed, not only have we restored our industry,
not only have we restored our agriculture and transport,
but we have already managed to set going the tremendous
work of reconstructing heavy industry, agriculture and
transport. Of course, this work has cost us many thousand million rubles. Where did we get these thousands
of millions from? From light industry, from agriculture
and from budget accumulations. This is how we managed until recently.
But the situation is entirely different now. Whereas
previously the old sources of capital accumulation were
sufficient for the reconstruction of industry and transport, now they are obviously becoming inadequate. Now
it is not a question of reconstructing our old industries.
It is a question of creating new, technically well-equipped
industries in the Urals, in Siberia, in Kazakhstan.
It is a question of creating new, large scale farming in
the grain, livestock and raw material regions of the
U.S.S.R. It is a question of creating a new network of
railways connecting the East and West of the U.S.S.R.
Naturally, the old sources of accumulation cannot suffice for this gigantic task.
But that is not all. To it must be added the fact
that owing to inefficient management the principles of
business accounting are grossly violated in a large number of our factories and business organisations. It is a
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
77
fact that a number of enterprises and business organisations have long ceased to keep proper accounts, to calculate, to draw up sound balance-sheets of income and
expenditure. It is a fact that in a number of enterprises
and business organisations such concepts as “regime of
economy,” “cutting down unproductive expenditure,”
“rationalisation of production” have long gone out of
fashion. Evidently they assume that the State Bank “will
advance the necessary money anyway.” It is a fact that
production costs in a number of enterprises have recently
begun to increase. They were given the assignment of
reducing costs by 10 per cent and more, but instead they
are increasing them. Yet what does a reduction in the
cost of production mean? You know that reducing the
cost of production by one per cent means an accumulation in industry of 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 rubles.
Obviously, to raise the cost of production under such circumstances means to deprive industry and the entire
national economy of hundreds of millions of rubles.
From all this it follows that it is no longer possible
to rely solely on light industry, on budget accumulations and on revenue from agriculture. Light industry
is a bountiful source of accumulation, and there is every
prospect of its continuing to expand; but it is not an
unlimited source. Agriculture is a no less bountiful
source of accumulation, but now, during the period of
its reconstruction, agriculture itself requires financial
aid from the state. As for budget accumulations, you
know yourselves that they cannot and must not be unlimited. What, then, remains? There remains heavy industry. Consequently, we must see to it that heavy industry
—and above all its machine-building section—also pro-
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vide accumulations. Consequently, while reinforcing and
expanding the old sources of accumulation, we must see
to it that heavy industry—and above all machine-building—also provide accumulations.
That is the way out.
And what is needed for this? We must put an end
to inefficiency, mobilise the internal resources of industry, introduce and reinforce business accounting in
all our enterprises, systematically reduce production
costs and increase internal accumulations in every branch
of industry without exception.
That is the way out.
Hence, the task is to introduce and reinforce business
accounting, to increase accumulation within industry.
VII
NEW METHODS OF WORK,
NEW METHODS OF MANAGEMENT
Such, comrades, are the new conditions of development of our industry.
The significance of these new conditions is that they
are creating a new situation for industry, one which demands new methods of work and new methods of management.
Hence:
a) It follows, therefore, that we can no longer count,
as of old, on an automatic influx of manpower. In order
to secure manpower for our industries it must be recruited in an organised manner, and labour must be
mechanised. To believe that we can do without mechanisation, in view of our tempo of work and scale of produc-
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
79
tion, is like believing that the sea can be emptied with
a spoon.
b) It follows, further, that we cannot any longer
tolerate the fluidity of manpower in industry. In order
to do away with this evil, we must organise wages in a
new way and see to it that the composition of the labour
force in the factories is more or less constant.
c) It follows, further, that we cannot any longer
tolerate lack of personal responsibility in industry. In
order to do away with this evil, work must be organised
in a new way, and the forces must be so distributed
that every group of workers is responsible for its
work, for the machinery, and for the quality of the
work.
d) It follows, further, that we can no longer manage,
as of old, with the very small force of old engineers and
technicians that we inherited from bourgeois Russia.
In order to increase the present rate and scale of production, we must ensure that the working class has its own
industrial and technical intelligentsia.
e) It follows, further, that we can no longer, as of
old, lump together all the experts, engineers and technicians of the old school. In order to take into account
the changed situation we must change our policy and display the utmost solicitude for those experts, engineers
and technicians of the old school who are definitely turning to the side of the working class.
f) It follows, lastly, that we can no longer, as of
old, manage with the old sources of accumulation. In
order to ensure the further expansion of industry and agriculture we must tap new sources of accumulation;
we must put an end to inefficiency, introduce business
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J. V. S T A L I N
accounting, reduce production costs and increase accumulation within industry.
Such are the new conditions of development of industry, which demand new methods of work and new methods of management in economic construction.
What is needed in order to ensure management along
new lines?
First of all, our economic executives must understand
the new situation; they must study concretely the new
conditions of development of industry and reform their
methods of work to meet the requirements of the new
situation.
Further, our economic executives must direct their
enterprises not “in general,” not “in the abstract,” but
concretely, specifically; they must approach every question not from the standpoint of general phrases, but in
a strictly business-like manner; they must not confine
themselves to formal written instructions or general
phrases and slogans, but study the technique of the business and enter into details, into “trifles,” for it is out
of “trifles” that great things are now being built.
Further, our present unwieldy combines, which sometimes consist of as many as 100 to 200 enterprises, must
each be immediately split up into several combines. Obviously, the chairman of a combine who has to deal with
a hundred or more factories cannot really know those
factories, their potentialities and their work. Obviously, if he does not know those factories he is not in a position to direct them. Hence, to enable the chairman of
a combine to study the factories thoroughly, and direct
them, he must be relieved of some of the factories; the
combine must be split up into several smaller ones, and
NEW CONDITIONS — NEW TASKS IN ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION
81
the combine headquarters must be brought into closer
contact with the factories.
Further, our combines must substitute one-man management for board management. The position at
present is that there are from 10 to 15 persons on
the board of a combine, drawing up documents and carrying
on discussions. We cannot go on managing in this way, comrades. We must put a stop to paper “management” and
switch to genuine, business like, Bolshevik work. Let
one chairman and several vice-chairmen remain at the
head of a combine. That will be quite enough for its
management. The other members of the board
should be sent to the factories and mills. That will be far
more useful, both for the work and for themselves.
Further, the chairmen and vice-chairmen of combines
must pay more frequent visits to the factories, stay and
work there for longer periods, acquaint themselves more
closely with the personnel in the factories and not only
teach the local people, but also learn from them. To think
that you can now direct by sitting in an office, far away
from the factories, is a delusion. In order to direct the
factories you must come into more frequent contact with
the staffs in those factories, maintain live contact with
them.
Finally, a word or two about our production plan
for 1931. There are certain near-Party philistines who
assert that our production programme is unrealistic,
that it cannot be fulfilled. They are somewhat like Shchedrin’s “sapient gudgeons” who are always ready to spread
“a vacuum of ineptitude” around themselves. Is
our production programme realistic or not? Most certainly, it is. It is realistic if only because all the condi-
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tions necessary for its fulfilment are available. It is realistic if only because its fulfilment now depends solely
on ourselves, on our ability and willingness to take advantage of the vast opportunities at our disposal. How else
can we explain the fact that a whole number of enterprises and industries have already overfulfilled their
plans? That means that other enterprises and industries,
too, can fulfil and overfulfil their plans.
It would be foolish to think that the production plan
is a mere enumeration of figures and assignments. Actually, the production plan is the living and practical
activity of millions of people. The reality of our production plan lies in the millions of working people who
are creating a new life. The reality of our programme
lies in living people, you and I, our will to work, our
readiness to work in the new way, our determination to
fulfil the plan. Have we that determination? Yes, we
have. Well then, our production programme can and
must be fulfilled. (Prolonged applause.)
Pravda, No. 183,
July 5, 1931
TO THE WORKERS
AND ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL
PERSONNEL OF AMO 20
The Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.) marks
with great satisfaction the victory won by the workers
and the administrative and technical personnel of the
AMO Automobile Works. Where the Russian capitalists
could only build automobile workshops with a backward
technique, a low productivity of labour and barbarous
methods of exploitation, there has arisen a powerful
giant plant capable of producing 25,000 motor lorries
and employing all the achievements of modern technology. Your victory is the victory of all the working people in our country. The C.C. of the C.P.S.U.(B.) expresses its firm conviction that this first great victory
of yours will be followed by others: by mastery of the
works’ new technical equipment, steady fulfilment of
the production programme, lowering of production costs
and high quality of output.
Ardent Bolshevik greetings to all the builders of
the AMO Works, the first giant automobile works in the
U.S.S.R.
Secretary of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 271,
October 1, 1931
TO THE WORKERS
AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE
AND TECHNICAL PERSONNEL
OF THE KHARKOV TRACTOR WORKS
PROJECT
The working people of our country, the millions of
collective farmers and the Party have followed the
course of construction of the Kharkov Tractor Works with
the greatest attention. The Kharkov Tractor Works is
a steel bastion of the collectivisation of agriculture in
the Ukraine; its builders are the vanguard leading the
millions of Ukrainian peasants along the road to socialism. The construction of the Kharkov Tractor Works,
which joins our family of tractor works, will go down
in the history of our country’s socialist industry as a
model of genuine Bolshevik tempos. The C.C. of the
C.P.S.U.(B.) expresses its conviction that the workers
and the engineering and technical personnel will overcome the difficulties of the young enterprise, will utilise the experience of the Stalingrad Works and succeed
in fulfilling the militant programme for 1932.
Ardent Bolshevik greetings to the builders of the
second giant tractor works in the U.S.S.R.!
Secretary of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 271,
October 1, 1931
TO THE NEWSPAPER TEKHNIKA 21
I greet the appearance of the first Bolshevik technical newspaper.
The newspaper Tekhnika must become a powerful
instrument of the broad masses of workers, business executives and engineering and technical personnel for mastering technique. It must help the Party to forge further hundreds of thousands of technicians and engineers
from people of the working class—fighters for Bolshevik
tempos.
I wish the newspaper every success.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 280,
October 10, 1931
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING
THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
Letter to the Editorial Board of the Magazine
“Proletarskaya Revolutsia”
Dear Comrades,
I emphatically protest against the publication in
the magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia 22 (No. 6, 1930) of
Slutsky’s anti-Party and semi-Trotskyist article, “The
Bolsheviks on German Social-Democracy in the Period
of Its Pre-War Crisis,” as an article for discussion.
Slutsky asserts that Lenin (the Bolsheviks) underestimated the danger of Centrism in German Social-Democracy and in pre-war Social-Democracy in general;
that is, he underestimated the danger of camouflaged
opportunism, the danger of conciliation towards opportunism. In other words, according to Slutsky, Lenin (the
Bolsheviks) did not wage an irreconcilable struggle
against opportunism, for, in essence, underestimation of
Centrism is tantamount to refraining from a thoroughgoing struggle against opportunism. It follows, therefore,
that in the period before the war Lenin was not yet a
real Bolshevik; that it was only in the period of the imperialist war, or even at the close of the war, that Lenin
became a real Bolshevik.
Such is the tale Slutsky tells in his article. And
you, instead of branding this new-found “historian” as
a slanderer and falsifier, enter into discussion with him,
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
87
provide him with a forum. I cannot refrain from protesting against the publication of Slutsky’s article in your
magazine as an article for discussion, for the question
of Lenin’s Bolshevism, the question whether Lenin did
or did not wage an irreconcilable struggle, based on principle, against Centrism as a certain form of opportunism,
the question whether Lenin was or was not a real Bolshevik, cannot be made into a subject of discussion.
In your statement entitled “From the Editorial
Board,” sent to the Central Committee on October 20, you
admit that the editorial board made a mistake in publishing Slutsky’s article as a discussion article. That is
all to the good, of course, despite the fact that the statement of the editorial board is very belated. But in
your statement you commit a fresh mistake by declaring
that “the editorial board consider it to be politically
extremely urgent and necessary that the entire complex of problems pertaining to the relations between the
Bolsheviks and the pre-war Second International be
further analysed in the pages of Proletarskaya Revolutsia.”
That means that you intend once again to draw people
into a discussion on questions which are axioms of Bolshevism. It means that you are again thinking of converting the subject of Lenin’s Bolshevism from an axiom
into a problem requiring “further analysis.” Why? On
what grounds?
Everyone knows that Leninism was born, grew up
and became strong in relentless struggle against opportunism of every brand, including Centrism in the West
(Kautsky) and Centrism in our country (Trotsky, etc.).
This cannot be denied even by the downright enemies
of Bolshevism, It is an axiom. But you are dragging us
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J. V. S T A L I N
back by trying to turn an axiom into a problem requiring “further analysis.” Why? On what grounds? Perhaps
through ignorance of the history of Bolshevism? Perhaps
for the sake of a rotten liberalism, so that the Slutskys
and other disciples of Trotsky may not be able to say that
they are being gagged? A rather strange sort of liberalism, this, exercised at the expense of the vital interests
of Bolshevism. . . .
What, exactly, is there in Slutsky’s article that
the editorial board regard as worthy of discussion?
1) Slutsky asserts that Lenin (the Bolsheviks) did
not pursue a line directed towards a rupture, towards a
split with the opportunists in German Social-Democracy,
with the opportunists in the Second International of
the pre-war period. You want to open a discussion on
this Trotskyist thesis of Slutsky’s. But what is there to
discuss? Is it not obvious that Slutsky is simply slandering Lenin, slandering the Bolsheviks? Slander must
be branded as such and not made the subject of discussion.
Every Bolshevik, if he really is a Bolshevik, knows
that long before the war, approximately since 1903-04, when
the Bolshevik group in Russia took shape and when the
Lefts in German Social-Democracy first raised their voice,
Lenin pursued a line directed towards a rupture, towards
a split with the opportunists both here, in the Russian
Social-Democratic Party, and over there, in the Second
International, particularly in the German Social-Democratic Party.
Every Bolshevik knows that it was for that very reason that even at that time (1903-05) in the ranks of the
opportunists of the Second International the Bolshe-
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
89
viks won for themselves honourable fame as being “splitters” and “disrupters.” But what could Lenin do, what
could the Bolsheviks do, if the Left Social-Democrats
in the Second International, and above all in the German Social-Democratic Party, were a weak and powerless group, a group without organisational shape, ideologically ill-equipped and afraid even to pronounce the
word “rupture,” “split”? It cannot be demanded that
Lenin, the Bolsheviks, should have, from inside Russia,
done the work of the Lefts for them and brought about
a split in the parties of the West.
That is apart from the fact that organisational and ideological weakness was a characteristic feature of the Left
Social-Democrats not only in the period prior to the war.
As is well known, the Lefts retained this negative feature
in the post-war period as well. Everyone knows the appraisal of the German Left Social-Democrats given by Lenin
in his famous article, “On Junius’s Pamphlet,”* published
in October 1916—that is, more than two years after the
beginning of the war—in which Lenin, criticising a
number of very serious political mistakes committed by
the Left Social-Democrats in Germany, speaks of “the
weakness of a l l German Lefts, who are entangled on
all sides in the vile net of Kautskyist hypocrisy, pedantry,
‘friendship’ for the opportunists”; in which he says that
“Junius has not yet freed himself completely from the
‘environment’ of the German, even Left Social-Democrats,
who are afraid of a split, are afraid to voice revolutionary
slogans to the full.” 23
* Junius was the pen name of Rosa Luxemburg, leader of
the Lefts in the Social-Democratic Party of Germany.
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J. V. S T A L I N
Of all the groups in the Second International, the
Russian Bolsheviks were at that time the only one
which, by its organisational experience and ideological
equipment, was capable of undertaking anything
serious in the sense of a direct rupture, of a split with
its own opportunists in its own Russian Social-Democratic Party. Now, if the Slutskys attempted, not even
to prove, but simply to assume that Lenin and the Russian Bolsheviks did not exert all their efforts to organise a split with the opportunists (Plekhanov, Martov, Dan)
and to oust the Centrists (Trotsky and other adherents
of the August bloc), then one could argue about Lenin’s
Bolshevism, about the Bolsheviks’ Bolshevism. But the
whole point is that the Slutskys dare not even hint at
such a wild assumption. They dare not, for they are aware
that the universally known facts concerning the resolute policy of rupture with the opportunists of all
brands pursued by the Russian Bolsheviks (1904-12) cry
out against such an assumption. They dare not, for they
know that they would be pilloried the very next day.
But the question arises: Could the Russian Bolsheviks bring about a split with their opportunists and Centrist conciliators long before the imperialist war (190412) without at the same time pursuing a line directed
towards a rupture, towards a split with the opportunists
and Centrists of the Second International? Who can doubt
that the Russian Bolsheviks regarded their policy towards
the opportunists and Centrists as a model for the policy
of the Lefts in the West? Who can doubt that the Russian Bolsheviks did all they could to push the Left Social-Democrats in the West, particularly the Lefts in the
German Social-Democratic Party, towards a rupture,
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
91
towards a split with their own opportunists and Centrists?
It was not the fault of Lenin and of the Russian Bolsheviks that the Left Social-Democrats in the West proved
to be too immature to follow in the footsteps of the Russian Bolsheviks.
2) Slutsky reproaches Lenin and the Bolsheviks for
not supporting the German Left Social-Democrat resolutely and wholeheartedly, for supporting them only
with important reservations, for allowing factional considerations to hinder them from giving all-out support
to the Lefts. You want to discuss this fraudulent and
utterly false reproach. But what is there indeed to discuss? Is it not obvious that Slutsky is manoeuvring and
trying, by means of a false reproach against Lenin and the
Bolsheviks, to cover up the real gaps in the position of
the Lefts in Germany? Is it not obvious that the Bolsheviks could not support the Lefts in Germany, who time
and again wavered between Bolshevism and Menshevism, without important reservations, without seriously
criticising their mistakes, and that to act otherwise
would have been a betrayal of the working class and its
revolution? Fraudulent manoeuvres must be branded as
such and not made a subject of discussion.
Yes, the Bolsheviks supported the Left Social-Democrats in Germany only with certain important reservations, criticising their semi-Menshevik mistakes. But for
this they ought to be applauded, not reproached.
Are there people who doubt this?
Let us turn to the most generally known facts of
history.
a) In 1903, serious differences arose between the
Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks in Russia on the question
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J. V. S T A L I N
of Party membership. By their formula on Party membership the Bolsheviks wanted to set up an organisational barrier against the influx of non-proletarian elements
into the Party. The danger of such an influx was very
real at that time in view of the bourgeois-democratic
character of the Russian revolution. The Russian Mensheviks advocated the opposite position, which threw
the doors of the Party wide open to non-proletarian elements. In view of the importance of the questions of the
Russian revolution for the world revolutionary movement, the West-European Social-Democrats decided to intervene. The Left Social-Democrats in Germany, Parvus and Rosa Luxemburg, then the leaders of the Lefts,
also intervened. And what happened? Both declared
for the Mensheviks and against the Bolsheviks. They
accused the Bolsheviks of having ultra-centralist and
Blanquist tendencies. Subsequently, these vulgar and
philistine epithets were seized upon by the Mensheviks
and spread far and wide.
b) In 1905, differences developed between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks in Russia on the question
of the character of the Russian revolution. The Bolsheviks advocated an alliance between the working class
and the peasantry under the hegemony of the proletariat.
The Bolsheviks asserted that the objective must
be a revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry for the purpose of passing immediately from the bourgeois-democratic revolution to
the socialist revolution, with the support of the rural
poor secured. The Mensheviks in Russia rejected the idea
of the hegemony of the proletariat in the bourgeoisdemocratic revolution; instead of the policy of an alli-
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
93
ance between the working class and the peasantry they
preferred the’ policy of an agreement with the liberal
bourgeoisie, and they declared that the revolutionarydemocratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry was a reactionary Blanquist scheme that ran counter
to the development of the bourgeois revolution. What
was the attitude of the German Left Social-Democrats,
of Parvus and Rosa Luxemburg, to this controversy?
They invented a utopian and semi-Menshevik scheme
of permanent revolution (a distorted representation of
the Marxist scheme of revolution), which was permeated
through and through with the Menshevik repudiation
of the policy of alliance between the working class
and peasantry, and they counterposed this scheme to
the Bolshevik scheme of the revolutionary-democratic
dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry. Subsequently, this semi-Menshevik scheme of permanent
revolution was seized upon by Trotsky (in part by
Martov) and turned into a weapon of struggle against
Leninism.
c) In the period before the war, one of the most urgent questions that came to the fore in the parties of
the Second International was the national and colonial
question, the question of the oppressed nations and colonies, the question of the liberation of the oppressed
nations and colonies, the question of the paths to be
followed in the struggle against imperialism, the question of the paths to the overthrow of imperialism. In
the interests of developing the proletarian revolution
and encircling imperialism, the Bolsheviks proposed the
policy of supporting the liberation movement of the oppressed nations and colonies on the basis of the self-
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determination of nations, and developed the scheme of a
united front between the proletarian revolution in the
advanced countries and the revolutionary-liberation
movement of the peoples of the colonies and oppressed
countries. The opportunists of all countries, the socialchauvinists and social-imperialists of all countries hastened to take up arms against the Bolsheviks on this account. The Bolsheviks were baited like mad dogs. What
position did the Left Social-Democrats in the West
adopt at that time? They developed a semi-Menshevik
theory of imperialism, rejected the principle of selfdetermination of nations in its Marxist sense (including
secession and formation of independent states), rejected the thesis that the liberation movement in the colonies and oppressed countries is of great revolutionary
importance, rejected the thesis that a united front between the proletarian revolution and the movement for
national liberation is possible, and counterposed all
this semi-Menshevik hotchpotch, which is nothing but
an underestimation of the national and colonial question, to the Marxist scheme of the Bolsheviks. It is well
known that this semi-Menshevik hotchpotch was subsequently seized upon by Trotsky, who used it as a
weapon in the struggle against Leninism.
Such are the universally known mistakes committed
by the Left Social-Democrats in Germany.
I need not speak of the other mistakes of the German Lefts, mistakes which were severely criticised in
various articles by Lenin.
Nor need I speak of the mistakes they committed in
appraising the policy of the Bolsheviks in the period
of the October Revolution.
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
95
What do these mistakes of the German Lefts taken
from the history of the pre-war period indicate, if not
that the Left Social-Democrats, despite their Leftism,
had not yet rid themselves of Menshevik lumber?
Of course, the record of the Lefts in Germany does
not consist only of serious mistakes. They also have
great and important revolutionary deeds to their credit.
I have in mind a number of their services and revolutionary actions in relation to questions of internal policy
and, in particular, of the electoral struggle, questions
of the struggle inside and outside parliament, the general strike, war, the Revolution of 1905 in Russia, etc.
That is why the Bolsheviks reckoned with them as Lefts,
supported them and urged them forward. But it does
not and cannot obliterate the fact that at the same time
the Left Social-Democrats in Germany did commit a
number of very serious political and theoretical mistakes; that they had not yet rid themselves of the Menshevik burden and therefore were in need of severe criticism by the Bolsheviks.
Now judge for yourselves whether Lenin and the Bolsheviks could have supported the Left Social-Democrats
in the West without serious reservations, without severely criticising their mistakes, and whether it would not
have been a betrayal of the interests of the working class,
a betrayal of the interests of the revolution, a betrayal
of communism, to act otherwise?
Is it not obvious that in reproaching Lenin and the
Bolsheviks for something for which he should have applauded them if he were a Bolshevik, Slutsky fully exposes himself as a semi-Menshevik, as a camouflaged Trotskyist?
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J. V. S T A L I N
Slutsky assumes that in their appraisal of the Lefts
in the West, Lenin and the Bolsheviks were guided by
their own factional considerations and that, consequently,
the Russian Bolsheviks sacrificed the great cause of the
international revolution to the interests of their faction.
It scarcely needs proof that there can be nothing more
base and disgusting than such an assumption. There can
be nothing more base, for even the basest of Mensheviks
are beginning to understand that the Russian revolution
is not a private cause of the Russians; that, on the contrary, it is the cause of the working class of the whole
world, the cause of the world proletarian revolution.
There can be nothing more disgusting, for even the professional slanderers in the Second International are beginning to understand that the consistent and thoroughly
revolutionary internationalism of the Bolsheviks is a
model of proletarian internationalism for the workers
of all countries.
Yes, the Russian Bolsheviks did put in the forefront
the fundamental questions of the Russian revolution,
such questions as those of the Party, of the attitude of
Marxists towards the bourgeois-democratic revolution,
of the alliance between the working class and the peasantry, of the hegemony of the proletariat, of the struggle inside and outside parliament, of the general strike,
of the growing over of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist revolution, of the dictatorship
of the proletariat, of imperialism, of the self-determination of nations, of the liberation movement of the oppressed nations and colonies, of the policy of support for this
movement, etc. They advanced these questions as the
touchstone by which they tested the revolutionary stamina
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
97
of the Left Social-Democrats in the West. Had they,
the right to do so? Yes, they had. They not only had the
right, but it was their duty to do so. It was their duty
to do so because all these questions were also fundamental questions of the world revolution, to whose aims the
Bolsheviks subordinated their policy and their tactics.
It was their duty to do so because only through such questions could they really test the revolutionary character
of the various groups in the Second International. The
question arises: Where is there here any “factionalism”of the Russian Bolsheviks and what have “factional”
considerations to do with this?
As far back as 1902 Lenin wrote in his pamphlet What
Is To Be Done? that “history has now confronted us with
an immediate task which is the m o s t r e v o I u t i o na r y of all the i m m e d i a t e tasks that confront the
proletariat of any country,” that “the fulfilment of this
task, the destruction of the most powerful bulwark, not
only of European, but also (it may now be said) of Asiatic
reaction, would make the Russian proletariat the vanguard of
the international revolutionary proletariat.” 24 Thirty years
have elapsed since that pamphlet, What Is To Be Done?,
appeared. No one will dare deny that the events during
this period have brilliantly confirmed Lenin’s words.
But does it not follow from this that the Russian revolution was (and remains) the nodal point of the world
revolution, that the fundamental questions of the
Russian revolution were at the same time (and are
now) the fundamental questions of the world revolution?
Is it not obvious that only through these fundamental questions was it possible to make a real test of the rev-
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J. V. S T A L I N
olutionary character of the Left Social-Democrats in
the West?
Is it not obvious that people who regard these questions as “factional” questions fully expose themselves as
base and degenerate elements?
3) Slutsky asserts that so far there has not been found
a sufficient number of official documents testifying to
Lenin’s (the Bolsheviks’) determined and relentless struggle against Centrism. He employs this bureaucratic thesis
as an irrefutable argument in favour of the proposition
that Lenin (the Bolsheviks) underestimated the danger
of Centrism in the Second International. And you are
ready to discuss this nonsense, this rascally chicanery.
But what is there indeed to discuss? Is it not obvious anyway that by his talk about documents Slutsky is trying
to cover up the wretchedness and falsity of his so-called
conception?
Slutsky considers the Party documents now available to be inadequate. Why? On what grounds? Are not
the universally known documents relating to the
Second International, as well as those relating to the
inner-Party struggle in Russian Social-Democracy,
sufficient to demonstrate with full clarity the revolutionary relentlessness of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in their
struggle against the opportunists and Centrists? Is Slutsky at all familiar with these documents? What more
documents does he need?
Let us assume that, in addition to the documents
already known, a mass of other documents were found,
containing, say, resolutions of the Bolsheviks once again
urging the necessity of wiping out Centrism. Would that
mean that the mere existence of written documents is
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
99
sufficient to demonstrate the real revolutionary character and the real relentlessness of the Bolsheviks’ attitude
towards Centrism? Who, except hopeless bureaucrats,
can rely on written documents alone? Who, except archive rats, does not understand that a party and its leaders must be tested primarily by their deeds and not
merely by their declarations? History knows not a few Socialists who readily signed all sorts of revolutionary resolutions, just for the sake of satisfying importunate
critics. But that does not mean that they carried out these
resolutions. Furthermore, history knows not a few Socialists who, foaming at the mouth, called upon the workers’ parties of other countries to perform the most revolutionary actions imaginable. But that does not mean
that they did not in their own party, or in their own
country, shrink from fighting their own opportunists,
their own bourgeoisie. Is not this why Lenin taught
us to test revolutionary parties, trends and leaders,
not by their declarations and resolutions, but by their
deeds?
Is it not obvious that if Slutsky really wanted to
test the relentlessness of Lenin and the Bolsheviks towards Centrism, he should have taken as the basis of
his article, not individual documents and two or three
personal letters, but a test of the Bolsheviks by their
deeds, their history, their actions? Did we not have opportunists and Centrists in the Russian Social-Democratic Party? Did not the Bolsheviks wage a determined
and relentless struggle against all these trends? Were
not these trends both ideologically and organisationally
connected with the opportunists and Centrists in the West?
Did not the Bolsheviks smash the opportunists and Cen-
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trists as no other Left group did anywhere else in the
world? How can anyone say after all this that Lenin
and the Bolsheviks underestimated the danger of
Centrism? Why did Slutsky ignore these facts, which
are of decisive importance in characterising the Bolsheviks? Why did he not resort to the most reliable
method of testing Lenin and the Bolsheviks: by their
deeds, by their actions? Why did he prefer the less reliable method of rummaging among casually selected
papers?
Because recourse to the more reliable method of
testing the Bolsheviks by their deeds would have instantaneously upset Slutsky’s whole conception.
Because a test of the Bolsheviks by their deeds
would have shown that the Bolsheviks are the only
revolutionary organisation in the world which has completely smashed the opportunists and Centrists and
driven them out of the Party.
Because recourse to the real deeds and the real history of the Bolsheviks would have shown that Slutsky’s
teachers, the Trotskyists, were the principal and basic
group which fostered Centrism in Russia, and for this
purpose created a special organisation, the August bloc,
as a hotbed of Centrism.
Because a test of the Bolsheviks by their deeds would
have exposed Slutsky once and for all as a falsifier of
the history of our Party, who is trying to cover up the
Centrism of pre-war Trotskyism by slanderously accusing Lenin and the Bolsheviks of having underestimated
the danger of Centrism.
That, comrade editors, is how matters stand with
Slutsky and his article.
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
101
As you see, the editorial board made a mistake in
permitting a discussion with a falsifier of the history
of our Party.
What could have impelled the editorial board to take
this wrong road?
I think that they were impelled to take that road
by rotten liberalism, which has spread to some extent
among a section of the Bolsheviks. Some Bolsheviks
think that Trotskyism is a faction of communism—one
which makes mistakes, it is true, which does many foolish things, is sometimes even anti-Soviet, but which,
nevertheless, is a faction of communism. Hence a certain liberalism in the attitude towards the Trotskyists and Trotskyist-minded people. It scarcely needs
proof that such a view of Trotskyism is deeply mistaken and harmful. As a matter of fact, Trotskyism has
long since ceased to be a faction of communism.
As a matter of fact, Trotskyism is the advanced
detachment of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie,
which is fighting against communism, against the
Soviet regime, against the building of socialism in the
U.S.S.R.
Who gave the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie an
ideological weapon against Bolshevism in the shape of
the thesis that building socialism in our country is impossible, that the degeneration of the Bolsheviks is
inevitable, etc.? Trotskyism gave it that weapon. It
is no accident that in their efforts to prove the inevitability of the struggle against the Soviet regime all the
anti-Soviet groups in the U.S.S.R. have been referring
to the well-known Trotskyist thesis that building socialism in our country is impossible, that the degener-
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J. V. S T A L I N
ation of the Soviet regime is inevitable, that a return
to capitalism is probable.
Who gave the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie in
the U.S.S.R. a tactical weapon in the shape of attempts
at open actions against the Soviet regime? The Trotskyists, who tried to organise anti-Soviet demonstrations
in Moscow and Leningrad on November 7, 1927, gave it
that weapon. It is a fact that the anti-Soviet actions of
the Trotskyists raised the spirits of the bourgeoisie and
let loose the wrecking activities of the bourgeois experts.
Who gave the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie an organisational weapon in the form of attempts at setting up
underground anti-Soviet organisations? The Trotskyists,
who organised their own anti-Bolshevik illegal group,
gave it that weapon. It is a fact that the underground
anti-Soviet work of the Trotskyists helped the anti-Soviet
groups in the U.S.S.R. to assume an organised form.
Trotskyism is the advanced detachment of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie.
That is why liberalism in the attitude towards Trotskyism, even though the latter is shattered and camouflaged, is blockheadedness bordering on crime, on
treason to the working class.
That is why the attempts of certain “writers” and
“historians” to smuggle disguised Trotskyist rubbish
into our literature must meet with a determined rebuff
from Bolsheviks.
That is why we cannot permit a literary discussion
with the Trotskyist smugglers.
It seems to me that “historians” and “writers” of
the Trotskyist smuggler category are for the present
trying to carry out their smuggling work along two lines.
SOME QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF BOLSHEVISM
103
Firstly, they are trying to prove that in the period
before the war Lenin underestimated the danger of Centrism, thereby leaving the inexperienced reader to surmise that, in consequence, Lenin was not yet a real revolutionary at that time; that he became one only after
the war, after he had “re-equipped” himself with Trotsky’s assistance. Slutsky may be regarded as a typical
representative of this type of smuggler.
We have seen above that Slutsky and Co. are not
worth making much fuss about.
Secondly, they are trying to prove that in the period prior to the war Lenin did not realise the necessity
of the growing over of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist revolution, thereby leaving the
inexperienced reader to surmise that, in consequence,
Lenin at that time was not yet a real Bolshevik; that
he realised the necessity of this growing over only
after the war, after he had “re-equipped” himself with
Trotsky’s assistance. Volosevich, author of A Course
in the History of the C.P.S.U.(B.), may be regarded as
a typical representative of this type of smuggler.
True, as far back as 1905 Lenin wrote that “from
the democratic revolution we shall at once, and just to
the extent of our strength, the strength of the class-conscious
and organised proletariat, begin to pass to the socialist revolution,” that “we stand for uninterrupted revolution,”
that “we shall not stop halfway.” 25 True, a very large
number of facts and documents of a similar nature
could be found in the works of Lenin. But what do the
Voloseviches care about the facts of Lenin’s life and
work? The Voloseviches write in order, by decking themselves out in Bolshevik colours, to smuggle in their anti-
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J. V. S T A L I N
Leninist contraband, to utter lies about the Bolsheviks
and to falsify the history of the Bolshevik Party.
As you see, the Voloseviches are worthy of the
Slutskys.
Such are the “highways and byways” of the Trotskyist smugglers.
You yourselves should realise that it is not the business of the editorial board of Proletarskaya Revolutsia
to facilitate the smuggling activities of such “historians” by providing them with a forum for discussion.
The task of the editorial board is, in my opinion,
to raise the questions concerning the history of Bolshevism to the proper level, to put the study of the history
of our Party on scientific, Bolshevik lines, and to concentrate attention against the Trotskyist and all other
falsifiers of the history of our Party, systematically
tearing off their masks.
That is all the more necessary since even some of
our historians—I am speaking of historians without
quotation marks, of Bolshevik historians of our Party—
are not free from mistakes which bring grist to the mill
of the Slutskys and Voloseviches. In this respect, even
Comrade Yaroslavsky is not, unfortunately, an exception;
his books on the history of the C.P.S.U.(B.), despite
all their merits, contain a number of errors in matters
of principle and history.
With communist greetings,
J. Stalin
The magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia,
No. 6 (113), 1931
AUTOMOBILE WORKS,
NIZHNI-NOVGOROD
Ardent greetings to the workers and the administrative and technical personnel of the construction project on the occasion of the successful completion of the
building work for the factory.
Congratulations on your victory, comrades!
We wish you further success in your work of assembling, setting in working order and inaugurating this
giant plant. We do not doubt that you will be able
to surmount all difficulties and will fulfil with honour
your duty to the country.
J. Stalin, V. Molotov
Pravda, No. 305,
November 4, 1931
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR
EMIL LUDWIG
December 13, 1931
Ludwig: I am extremely obliged to you for having
found it possible to receive me. For over twenty years
I have been studying the lives and deeds of outstanding
historical personages. I believe I am a good judge of
people, but on the other hand I know nothing about social-economic conditions.
Stalin: You are being modest.
Ludwig: No, that is really so, and for that very reason I shall put questions that may seem strange to you.
Today, here in the Kremlin, I saw some relics of Peter
the Great and the first question I should like to ask you
is this: Do you think a parallel can be drawn between
yourself and Peter the Great? Do you consider yourself
a continuer of the work of Peter the Great?
Stalin: In no way whatever. Historical parallels
are always risky. There is no sense in this one.
Ludwig: But after all, Peter the Great did a great
deal to develop his country, to bring western culture to
Russia.
Stalin: Yes, of course, Peter the Great did much
to elevate the landlord class and develop the nascent
merchant class. He did very much indeed to create and
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
107
consolidate the national state of the landlords and merchants. It must be said also that the elevation of the
landlord class, the assistance to the nascent merchant
class and the consolidation of the national state of these
classes took place at the cost of the peasant serfs, who
were bled white.
As for myself, I am just a pupil of Lenin’s, and the
aim of my life is to be a worthy pupil of his.
The task to which I have devoted my life is the elevation of a different class—the working class. That
task is not the consolidation of some “national” state,
but of a socialist state, and that means an international
state; and everything that strengthens that state helps
to strengthen the entire international working class. If
every step I take in my endeavour to elevate the working
class and strengthen the socialist state of this class were
not directed towards strengthening and improving the
position of the working class, I should consider my life
purposeless.
So you see your parallel does not fit.
As regards Lenin and Peter the Great, the latter
was but a drop in the sea, whereas Lenin was a whole
ocean.
Ludwig: Marxism denies that the individual plays an
outstanding role in history. Do you not see a contradiction between the materialist conception of history and
the fact that, after all, you admit the outstanding role
played by historical personages?
Stalin: No, there is no contradiction here. Marxism
does not at all deny the role played by outstanding
individuals or that history is made by people. In Marx’s
The Poverty of Philosophy 26 and in other works of his you
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J. V. S T A L I N
will find it stated that it is people who make history.
But, of course, people do not make history according to
the promptings of their imagination or as some fancy
strikes them. Every new generation encounters definite conditions already existing, ready-made when that
generation was born. And great people are worth anything at all only to the extent that they are able correctly to understand these conditions, to understand how to
change them. If they fail to understand these conditions
and want to alter them according to the promptings
of their imagination, they will land themselves in the
situation of Don Quixote. Thus it is precisely Marx’s
view that people must not be counterposed to conditions. It is people who make history, but they do so only
to the extent that they correctly understand the conditions that they have found ready-made, and only to the
extent that they understand how to change those conditions. That, at least, is how we Russian Bolsheviks
understand Marx. And we have been studying Marx
for a good many years.
Ludwig: Some thirty years ago, when I was at the
university, many German professors who considered themselves adherents of the materialist conception of history
taught us that Marxism denies the role of heroes, the
role of heroic personalities in history.
Stalin: They were vulgarisers of Marxism. Marxism
has never denied the role of heroes. On the contrary, it
admits that they play a considerable role, but with the
reservations I have just made.
Ludwig: Sixteen chairs are placed around the table
at which we are seated. Abroad people know, on the one
hand, that the U.S.S.R. is a country in which everything
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
109
must be decided collectively, but they know, on the other hand, that everything is decided by individual persons. Who really does decide?
Stalin: No, individual persons cannot decide. Decisions of individuals are always, or nearly always,
one-sided decisions. In every collegium, in every collective body, there are people whose opinion must be
reckoned with. In every collegium, in every collective
body, there are people who may express wrong opinions.
From the experience of three revolutions we know that
out of every 100 decisions taken by individual persons
without being tested and corrected collectively, approximately 90 are one-sided.
In our leading body, the Central Committee of our
Party, which directs all our Soviet and Party organisations, there are about 70 members. Among these 70 members of the Central Committee are our best industrial
leaders, our best co-operative leaders, our best managers
of supplies, our best military men, our best propagandists and agitators, our best experts on state farms, on
collective farms, on individual peasant farms, our best
experts on the nations constituting the Soviet Union
and on national policy. In this areopagus is concentrated the wisdom of our Party. Each has an opportunity
of correcting anyone’s individual opinion or proposal.
Each has an opportunity of contributing his experience.
If this were not the case, if decisions were taken by individual persons, there would be very serious mistakes
in our work. But since each has an opportunity of correcting the mistakes of individual persons, and since
we pay heed to such corrections, we arrive at decisions
that are more or less correct.
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J. V. S T A L I N
Ludwig: You have had decades of experience of illegal work. You have had to transport illegally arms,
literature, and so forth. Do you not think that the enemies of the Soviet regime might learn from your experience and fight the Soviet regime with the same methods?
Stalin: That, of course, is quite possible.
Ludwig: Is that not the reason for the severity and
ruthlessness of your government in fighting its enemies?
Stalin: No, that is not the chief reason. One could
quote certain examples from history. When the Bolsheviks came to power they at first treated their enemies
mildly. The Mensheviks continued to exist legally and
publish their newspaper. The Socialist-Revolutionaries
also continued to exist legally and had their newspaper.
Even the Cadets continued to publish their newspaper.
When General Krasnov organised his counter-revolutionary campaign against Leningrad and fell into our
hands, we could at least have kept him prisoner,
according to the rules of war. Indeed, we ought to
have shot him. But we released him on his “word of honour.” And what happened? It soon became clear that
such mildness only helped to undermine the strength of
the Soviet Government. We made a mistake in displaying such mildness towards enemies of the working class. To
have persisted in that mistake would have been a crime
against the working class and a betrayal of its interests.
That soon became quite apparent. Very soon it became
evident that the milder our attitude towards our enemies,
the greater their resistance. Before long the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries—Gotz and others—and the Right
Mensheviks were organising in Leningrad a counterrevolutionary action of the military cadets, as a result
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
111
of which many of our revolutionary sailors perished.
This very Krasnov, whom we had released on his “word
of honour,” organised the whiteguard Cossacks. He
joined forces with Mamontov and for two years waged
an armed struggle against the Soviet Government. Very
soon it turned out that behind the whiteguard generals
stood the agents of the western capitalist states—France,
Britain, America—and also Japan. We became convinced
that we had made a mistake in displaying mildness.
We learnt from experience that the only way to deal
with such enemies is to apply the most ruthless policy
of suppression to them.
Ludwig: It seems to me that a considerable part of
the population of the Soviet Union stands in fear and
trepidation of the Soviet power, and that the stability
of the latter rests to a certain extent on that sense of
fear. I should like to know what state of mind is produced in you personally by the realisation that it is necessary to inspire fear in the interests of strengthening the
regime. After all, when you associate with your comrades, your friends, you adopt quite different methods
than those of inspiring fear. Yet the population is being
inspired with fear.
Stalin: You are mistaken. Incidentally, your mistake
is that of many people. Do you really believe that we
could have retained power and have had the backing
of the vast masses for 14 years by methods of intimidation and terrorisation? No, that is impossible. The tsarist government excelled all others in knowing how to
intimidate. It had long and vast experience in that sphere.
The European bourgeoisie, particularly the French,
gave tsarism every assistance in this matter and taught
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J. V. S T A L I N
it to terrorise the people. Yet, in spite of that experience and in spite of the help of the European bourgeoisie, the policy of intimidation led to the downfall of
tsarism.
Ludwig: But the Romanovs held on for 300 years.
Stalin: Yes, but how many revolts and uprisings there
were during those 300 years! There was the uprising of
Stepan Razin, the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachov, the
uprising of the Decembrists, the revolution of 1905,
the revolution of February 1917, and the October Revolution. That is apart from the fact that the presentday conditions of political and cultural life in the country are radically different from those of the old regime, when the ignorance, lack of culture, submissiveness
and political downtroddenness of the masses enabled the
“rulers” of that time to remain in power for a more or
less prolonged period.
As regards the people, the workers and peasants of
the U.S.S.R., they are not at all so tame, so submissive
and intimidated as you imagine. There are many people
in Europe whose ideas about the people of the U.S.S.R.
are old-fashioned: they think that the people living in
Russia are, firstly, submissive and, secondly, lazy.
That is an antiquated and radically wrong notion. It
arose in Europe in those days when the Russian landlords
began to flock to Paris, where they squandered the loot
they had amassed and spent their days in idleness. These
were indeed spineless and worthless people. That
gave rise to conclusions about “Russian laziness.” But
this cannot in the least apply to the Russian workers
and peasants, who earned and still earn their living
by their own labour. It is indeed strange to consider
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
113
the Russian peasants and workers submissive and lazy
when in a brief period of time they made three revolutions, smashed tsarism and the bourgeoisie, and are
now triumphantly building socialism.
Just now you asked me whether everything in our
country was decided by one person. Never under any
circumstances would our workers now tolerate power in
the hands of one person. With us personages of the greatest authority are reduced to nonentities, become mere
ciphers, as soon as the masses of the workers lose confidence
in them, as soon as they lose contact with the masses
of the workers. Plekhanov used to enjoy exceptionally
great prestige. And what happened? As soon as he began
to stumble politically the workers forgot him. They forsook him and forgot him. Another instance: Trotsky.
His prestige too was great, although, of course, it was
nothing like Plekhanov’s. What happened? As soon as
he drifted away from the workers they forgot him.
Ludwig: Entirely forgot him?
Stalin: They remember him sometimes—but with
bitterness.
Ludwig: All of them with bitterness?
Stalin: As far as our workers are concerned, they
remember Trotsky with bitterness, with exasperation,
with hatred.
There is, of course, a certain small section of the population that really does stand in fear of the Soviet power,
and fights against it. I have in mind the remnants of
the moribund classes, which are being eliminated, and
primarily that insignificant part of the peasantry, the
kulaks. But here it is a matter not merely of a policy
of intimidating these groups, a policy that really does
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J. V. S T A L I N
exist. Everybody knows that in this case we Bolsheviks
do not confine ourselves to intimidation but go further,
aiming at the elimination of this bourgeois stratum.
But if you take the labouring population of the
U.S.S.R., the workers and the labouring peasants, who
represent not less than 90 per cent of the population,
you will find that they are in favour of Soviet power
and that the vast majority of them actively support
the Soviet regime. They support the Soviet system because that system serves the fundamental interests of
the workers and peasants.
That, and not a policy of so-called intimidation,
is the basis of the Soviet Government’s stability.
Ludwig: I am very grateful to you for that answer.
I beg you to forgive me if I ask you a question that may
appear to you a strange one. Your biography contains
instances of what may be called acts of “highway robbery.”
Were you ever interested in the personality of Stepan
Razin? What is your attitude towards him as an “ideological highwayman”?
Stalin: We Bolsheviks have always taken an interest in such historical personalities as Bolotnikov, Razin, Pugachov, and so on. We regard the deeds of these
individuals as a reflection of the spontaneous indignation of the oppressed classes, of the spontaneous rebellion of the peasantry against feudal oppression. The
study of the history of these first attempts at such revolt on the part of the peasantry has always been of interest to us. But, of course, no analogy can be drawn
here between them and the Bolsheviks. Sporadic peasant
uprisings, even when not of the “highway robber” and
unorganised type, as in the case of Stepan Razin, cannot
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
115
lead to anything of importance. Peasant uprisings can
be successful only if they are combined with uprisings
of the workers and if they are led by the workers. Only
a combined uprising headed by the working class can
achieve its aim.
Moreover, it must never be forgotten that Razin and
Pugachov were tsarists: they came out against the landlords, but were in favour of a “good tsar.” That indeed
was their slogan.
As you see, it is impossible to draw an analogy here
with the Bolsheviks.
Ludwig: Allow me to put a few questions to you concerning your biography. When I went to see Masaryk
he told me he was conscious of being a Socialist when
only six years old. What made you a Socialist and when
was that?
Stalin: I cannot assert that I was already drawn to
socialism at the age of six. Not even at the age of ten
or twelve. I joined the revolutionary movement when
fifteen years old, when I became connected with underground groups of Russian Marxists then living in
Transcaucasia. These groups exerted great influence on
me and instilled in me a taste for underground Marxist
literature.
Ludwig: What impelled you to become an oppositionist? Was it, perhaps, bad treatment by your parents?
Stalin: No. My parents were uneducated, but they
did not treat me badly by any means. But it was a different matter at the Orthodox theological seminary which I was then attending. In protest against the
outrageous regime and the jesuitical methods prevalent
at the seminary, I was ready to become, and actually
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J. V. S T A L I N
did become, a revolutionary, a believer in Marxism as
a really revolutionary teaching.
Ludwig: But do you not admit that the Jesuits have
good points?
Stalin: Yes, they are systematic and persevering in
working to achieve sordid ends. But their principal
method is spying, prying, worming their way into people’s souls and outraging their feelings. What good can
there be in that? For instance, the spying in the hostel.
At nine o’clock the bell rings for morning tea, we go
to the dining-room, and when we return to our rooms
we find that meantime a search has been made and all
our chests have been ransacked. . . . What good point
can there be in that?
Ludwig: I notice that in the Soviet Union everything American is held in very high esteem, I might even
speak of a worship of everything American, that is, of
the Land of the Dollar, the most out-and-out capitalist
country. This sentiment exists also in your working
class, and applies not only to tractors and automobiles,
but also to Americans in general. How do you explain
that?
Stalin: You exaggerate. We have no especially high
esteem for everything American. But we do respect the
efficiency that the Americans display in everything—in
industry, in technology, in literature and in life. We never forget that the U.S.A. is a capitalist country. But
among the Americans there are many people who are
mentally and physically healthy, who are healthy in
their whole approach to work, to the job on hand. That
efficiency, that simplicity, strikes a responsive chord
in our hearts. Despite the fact that America is a highly
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
117
developed capitalist country, the habits prevailing in
its industry, the practices existing in productive processes, have an element of democracy about them, which
cannot be said of the old European capitalist countries,
where the haughty spirit of the feudal aristocracy is
still alive.
Ludwig: You do not even suspect how right you are.
Stalin: Maybe I do; who can tell?
In spite of the fact that feudalism as a social order
was demolished long ago in Europe, considerable relics
survive in manner of life and customs. There are still
technicians, specialists, scientists and writers who have
sprung from the feudal environment and who carry aristocratic habits into industry, technology, science and
literature. Feudal traditions have not been entirely
demolished.
That cannot be said of America, which is a country
of “free colonists,” without landlords and without aristocrats. Hence the sound and comparatively simple habits
in American productive life. Our business executives
of working-class origin who have visited America at
once noted this trait. They relate, not without a certain agreeable surprise, that on a production job in America it is difficult to distinguish an engineer from a worker by outward appearance. That pleases them, of course.
But matters are quite different in Europe.
But if we are going to speak of our liking for a particular nation, or rather, for the majority of its citizens,
then of course we must not fail to mention our liking
for the Germans. Our liking for the Americans cannot
be compared to that!
Ludwig: Why precisely the German nation?
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J. V. S T A L I N
Stalin: If only for the reason that it gave the world
such men as Marx and Engels. It suffices to state the
fact as such.
Ludwig: It has recently been noticed that certain
German politicians are seriously afraid that the traditional policy of friendship between the U.S.S.R. and Germany will be pushed into the background. These fears
have arisen in connection with the negotiations between the U.S.S.R. and Poland. Should the recognition
of Poland’s present frontiers by the U.S.S.R. become
a fact as a result of these negotiations it would spell
bitter disappointment for the entire German people,
who have hitherto believed that the U.S.S.R. is fighting the Versailles system and has no intention of recognising it.
Stalin: I know that a certain dissatisfaction and
alarm may be noticed among some German statesmen
on the grounds that the Soviet Union, in its negotiations or in some treaty with Poland, may take some step
that would imply on the part of the Soviet Union a sanction, a guarantee, for Poland’s possessions and frontiers.
In my opinion such fears are mistaken. We have always declared our readiness to conclude a non-aggression pact with any state. We have already concluded
such pacts with a number of countries. We have openly
declared our readiness to sign such a pact with Poland,
too. When we declare that we are ready to sign a pact
of non-aggression with Poland, this is not mere rhetoric. It means that we really want to sign such a pact.
We are politicians of a special brand, if you like. There
are politicians who make a promise or statement one
day, and on the next either forget all about it or deny
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TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
119
what they stated, and do so without even blushing. We
cannot act in that way. Whatever we do abroad inevitably becomes known inside our country, becomes known
to all the workers and peasants. If we said one thing
and did another, we should forfeit our prestige among
the masses of the people. As soon as the Poles declared
that they were ready to negotiate a non-aggression pact
with us, we naturally agreed and opened negotiations.
What, from the Germans’ point of view, is the most
dangerous thing that could happen? A change for the
worse in our relations with them? But there is no basis
whatever for that. We, exactly like the Poles, must declare in the pact that we will not use force or resort
to aggression in order to change the frontiers of Poland
or the U.S.S.R., or violate their independence. Just as
we make such a promise to the Poles, so they make the
same promise to us. Without such a clause, namely,
that we do not intend to go to war for the purpose of
violating the independence or integrity of the frontiers
of our respective states, no pact can be concluded. Without that a pact is out of the question. That is the most
that we can do.
Is this recognition of the Versailles system? 27 No. Or
is it, perhaps, a guaranteeing of frontiers? No. We never have been guarantors of Poland and never shall become such, just as Poland has not been and will not be
a guarantor of our frontiers. Our friendly relations
with Germany will continue as hitherto. That is my
firm conviction.
Therefore, the fears you speak of are wholly without
foundation. They have arisen on the basis of rumours
spread by some Poles and Frenchmen. They will disap-
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J. V. S T A L I N
pear when we publish the pact, if Poland signs it. Everyone will then see that it contains nothing against
Germany.
Ludwig: I am very thankful to you for that statement. Allow me to ask you the following question: You
speak of “wage equalisation,” giving the term a distinctly ironical shade of meaning in relation to general
equalisation. But, surely, general equalisation is a socialist ideal.
Stalin: The kind of socialism under which everybody
would get the same pay, an equal quantity of meat and
an equal quantity of bread, would wear the same clothes
and receive the same goods in the same quantities—such
a socialism is unknown to Marxism.
All that Marxism says is that until classes have
been finally abolished and until labour has been transformed from a means of subsistence into the prime want
of man, into voluntary labour for society, people will
be paid for their labour according to the work performed.
“From each according to his ability, to each according
to his work.” Such is the Marxist formula of socialism,
i.e., the formula of the first stage of communism, the
first stage of communist society.
Only at the higher stage of communism, only in its
higher phase, will each one, working according to his
ability, be recompensed for his work according to his
needs. “From each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs.”
It is quite clear that people’s needs vary and will
continue to vary under socialism. Socialism has never
denied that people differ in their tastes, and in the
quantity and quality of their needs. Read how Marx
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
121
criticised Stirner 28 for his leaning towards equalitarianism; read Marx’s criticism of the Gotha Programme
of 1875 29 ; read the subsequent works of Marx, Engels
and Lenin, and you will see how sharply they attack
equalitarianism. Equalitarianism owes its origin to the
individual peasant type of mentality, the psychology of
share and share alike, the psychology of primitive peasant “communism.” Equalitarianism has nothing in
common with Marxist socialism. Only people who are
unacquainted with Marxism can have the primitive notion that the Russian Bolsheviks want to pool all wealth
and then share it out equally. That is the notion of
people who have nothing in common with Marxism.
That is how such people as the primitive “Communists”
of the time of Cromwell and the French Revolution pictured communism to themselves. But Marxism and the
Russian Bolsheviks have nothing in common with such
equalitarian “Communists.”
Ludwig: You are smoking a cigarette. Where is your
legendary pipe, Mr. Stalin? You once said that words
and legends pass, but deeds remain. Now believe me,
there are millions of people abroad who do not know
about some of your words and deeds, but who do know
about your legendary pipe.
Stalin: I left my pipe at home.
Ludwig: I shall now ask you a question that may
astonish you greatly.
Stalin: We Russian Bolsheviks have long ceased to
be astonished at anything.
Ludwig: Yes, and we in Germany too.
Stalin: Yes, you in Germany will soon stop being
astonished.
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J. V. S T A L I N
Ludwig:: My question is the following: You have
often incurred risks and dangers. You have been persecuted. You have taken part in battles. A number of your
close friends have perished. You have survived. How
do you explain that? And do you believe in fate?
Stalin: No, I do not. Bolsheviks, Marxists, do not
believe in “fate.” The very concept of fate, of “Schicksal,” is a prejudice, an absurdity, a relic of mythology,
like the mythology of the ancient Greeks, for whom
a goddess of fate controlled the destinies of men.
Ludwig:: That is to say that the fact that you did
not perish is an accident?
Stalin: There are internal and external causes, the
combined effect of which was that I did not perish.
But entirely independent of that, somebody else could
have been in my place, for somebody had to occupy it.
“Fate” is something not governed by natural law, something mystical. I do not believe in mysticism. Of course,
there were reasons why danger left me unscathed. But
there could have been a number of other fortuitous circumstances, of other causes, which could have led to a directly
opposite result. So-called fate has nothing to do with it.
Ludwig: Lenin passed many years in exile abroad.
You had occasion to be abroad for only a very short
time. Do you consider that this has handicapped you?
Who do you believe were of greater benefit to the revolution—those revolutionaries who lived in exile abroad
and thus had the opportunity of making a thorough
study of Europe, but on the other hand were cut off
from direct contact with the people; or those revolutionaries who carried on their work here, knew the moods
of the people, but on the other hand knew little of Europe?
TALK WITH THE GERMAN AUTHOR EMIL LUDWIG
123
Stalin: Lenin must be excluded from this comparison. Very few of those who remained in Russia were as
intimately connected with the actual state of affairs
there and with the labour movement within the country as Lenin was, although he was a long time abroad.
Whenever I went to see him abroad—in 1906, 1907,
1912 and 1913 30 —I saw piles of letters he had received
from practical Party workers in Russia, and he was always better informed than those who stayed in Russia. He
always considered his stay abroad to be a burden to him.
There are many more comrades in our Party and its
leadership who remained in Russia, who did not go
abroad, than there are former exiles, and they, of course,
were able to be of greater benefit to the revolution than
those who were in exile abroad. Actually few former
exiles are left in our Party. They may add up to about
one or two hundred out of the two million members of the
Party. Of the seventy members of the Central Committee
scarcely more than three or four lived in exile abroad.
As far as knowledge of Europe, a study of Europe,
is concerned, those who wished to make such a study
had, of course, more opportunities of doing so while
living there. In that respect those of us who did not
live long abroad lost something. But living abroad is
not at all a decisive factor in making a study of European economics, technique, the cadres of the labour
movement and literature of every description, whether
belles lettres or scientific. Other things being equal,
it is of course easier to study Europe on the spot. But
the disadvantage of those who have not lived in Europe
is not of much importance. On the contrary, I know
many comrades who were abroad twenty years, lived
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J. V. S T A L I N
somewhere in Charlottenburg or in the Latin Quarter,
spent years in cafés drinking beer, and who yet did not
manage to acquire a knowledge of Europe and failed to
understand it.
Ludwig: Do you not think that among the Germans
as a nation love of order is more highly developed than
love of freedom?
Stalin: There was a time when people in Germany
did indeed show great respect for the law. In 1907,
when I happened to spend two or three months in Berlin, we Russian Bolsheviks often used to laugh at some
of our German friends on account of their respect for
the law. There was, for example, a story in circulation
about an occasion when the Berlin Social-Democratic
Executive fixed a definite day and hour for a demonstration that was to be attended by the members of all the
suburban organisations. A group of about 200 from one
of the suburbs arrived in the city punctually at the hour
appointed, but failed to appear at the demonstration,
the reason being that they had waited two hours on the
station platform because the ticket collector at the exit
had failed to make his appearance and there had been
nobody to give their tickets to. It used to be said in
jest that it took a Russian comrade to show the Germans a simple way out of their fix: to leave the platform without giving up their tickets. . . .
But is there anything like that in Germany now?
Is there respect for the law in Germany today? What
about the National Socialists, who one would think ought
to be the first to stand guard over bourgeois legality?
Do they not break the law, wreck workers’ clubs and
assassinate workers with impunity?
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125
I make no mention of the workers, who, it seems to
me, long ago lost all respect for bourgeois legality.
Yes, the Germans have changed quite a bit lately.
Ludwig: Under what conditions is it possible to
unite the working class finally and completely under
the leadership of one party? Why is such a uniting of
the working class possible only after the proletarian revolution, as the Communists maintain?
Stalin: Such a uniting of the working class around
the Communist Party is most easily accomplished as
the result of a victorious proletarian revolution. But it
will undoubtedly be achieved in the main even before
the revolution.
Ludwig: Does ambition stimulate or hinder a great
historical figure in his activities?
Stalin: The part played by ambition differs under
different conditions. Ambition may be a stimulus or a
hindrance to the activities of a great historical figure.
It all depends on circumstances. More often than not it
is a hindrance.
Ludwig: Is the October Revolution in any sense the
continuation and culmination of the Great French Revolution?
Stalin: The October Revolution is neither the continuation nor the culmination of the Great French Revolution. The purpose of the French Revolution was to
abolish feudalism in order to establish capitalism. The
purpose of the October Revolution, however, is to abolish capitalism in order to establish socialism.
Bolshevik, No. 8,
April 30, 1932
TO THE CHIEF
OF THE AUTOMOBILE WORKS PROJECT
AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE MOLOTOV
AUTOMOBILE WORKS, NIZHNI-NOVGOROD
Greetings to the working men and working women,
and to the administrative, political and technical chiefs
of the works on the occasion of the completion of the
building and inauguration of the Giant Automobile Works!
Hearty congratulations to the men and women shock
brigaders of the Automobile Works Project, who bore
the brunt of the construction work!
Our thanks to the foreign workers, technicians and
engineers who rendered assistance to the working class
of the Soviet Union in building, assembling and inaugurating the works!
Congratulations on your victory, comrades!
Let us hope that the Automobile Works will succeed
in swiftly and completely overcoming the difficulties
of mastering and developing the process of production,
the difficulties of fulfilling the production programme.
Let us hope that the Automobile Works will soon
be able to supply the country with thousands and scores
of thousands of cars and lorries, which are as essential to our national economy as air and water.
Forward to new victories!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 2,
January 2, 1932
TO THE CHIEF
OF THE HARVESTER COMBINE WORKS
PROJECT AND THE DIRECTOR
OF THE HARVESTER COMBINE WORKS,
SARATOV
Greetings to the working men and working women
and the entire executive personnel of the works!
Hearty congratulations to the active of the works
and, first and foremost, to the men and women shock
brigaders, on the successful completion of the building
and inauguration of the works!
Comrades, the country needs harvester combines as
much as it needs tractors and automobiles. I have no
doubt that you will succeed in completely fulfilling the
production programme of the works.
Forward to new victories!
J. Stalin
January 4, 1932
Pravda, No. 5,
January 5, 1932
REPLY TO OLEKHNOVICH AND ARISTOV
With Reference to the Letter “Some Questions Concerning
the History of Bolshevism” Addressed to the Editorial
Board of the Magazine “Proletarskaya Revolutsia”
To Comrade Olekhnovich
I received your letter. I am late in replying owing
to pressure of work.
I cannot possibly agree with you, Comrade Olekhnovich, and the reason is as follows.
1. It is not true that “Trotskyism was never a faction
of communism.” Since the Trotskyists broke organisationally—even if temporarily—with Menshevism, put
aside—even if temporarily—their anti-Bolshevik views,
were admitted to the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union (Bolsheviks) and the Comintern and submitted
to the decisions of these bodies, Trotskyism was undoubtedly a part, a faction, of communism.
Trotskyism was a faction of communism both in the
broad sense of the word, i.e., as a part of the world communist movement while retaining its individuality as
a group, and in the narrow sense of the word, i.e., as a
more or less organised faction within the C.P.S.U.(B.),
fighting for influence in the Party. It would be ridiculous to deny the generally known facts about the Trotskyists as a faction of the C.P.S.U.(B.) that are record-
REPLY TO OLEKHNOVICH AND ARISTOV
129
ed in resolutions of C.P.S.U.(B.) congresses and conferences.
The C.P.S.U.(B.) does not tolerate factions and cannot agree to legalise them? Yes, that is so; it does not
tolerate them and cannot agree to legalise them. But
this does not mean that the Trotskyists did not really
constitute a faction. Precisely because the Trotskyists
actually did have a faction of their own, which they
fought to have legalised, precisely for this reason—
among others—they were later on thrown out of the
Party.
You are trying to score a point in reply by an attempt to draw a distinction between Trotskyism and
the Trotskyists, on the supposition that what applies
to Trotskyism cannot apply to the Trotskyists. In other
words, you mean to say that Trotskyism was never a
faction of communism, but that Trotsky and the Trotskyists were a faction of communism. That is scholasticism and self-deception, Comrade Olekhnovich! There
can be no Trotskyism without exponents of it, i.e., without Trotskyists, just as there can be no Trotskyists
without Trotskyism—maybe veiled and put aside, but
nevertheless Trotskyism—otherwise they would cease
to be Trotskyists.
What was the characteristic feature of the Trotskyists when they were a faction of communism? It was
that they “permanently” wavered between Bolshevism and Menshevism, these vacillations reaching a
climax at each turn made by the Party and the Comintern and finding vent in a factional struggle against the
Party. What does this mean? It means that the Trotskyists were not real Bolsheviks, although they were in the
130
J. V. S T A L I N
Party and submitted to its decisions, that they could
not be called real Mensheviks either, although they frequently wavered to the side of Menshevism. It was this
wavering that formed the basis of the inner-Party struggle between the Leninists and the Trotskyists during
the period when the latter were in our Party (1917-27).
And the basis of this wavering of the Trotskyists lay
in the fact that although they put aside their anti-Bolshevik views and thus entered the Party, they nevertheless did not renounce these views. As a result these views
made themselves felt with particular strength at each
turn made by the Party and the Comintern.
You evidently do not agree with this interpretation
of the question of Trotskyism. But in that event you
are bound to arrive at one of two incorrect conclusions.
Either you must conclude that when they entered the
Party Trotsky and the Trotskyists made a clean sweep
of their views and turned into real Bolsheviks, which
is incorrect, for on that assumption it becomes impossible to understand and explain the continuous innerParty struggle of the Trotskyists against the Party which
fills the entire period of their stay in the Party. Or you
must conclude that Trotskyism (the Trotskyists) “was
all the time a faction of Menshevism,” which again is
incorrect, as Lenin and Lenin's Party would have committed a mistake in principle had they admitted Mensheviks into the Communist Party even for one minute.
2. It is not true that Trotskyism “was all the time
a faction of Menshevism, one variety of bourgeois
agency in the working-class movement,” just as it is
incorrect on your part to attempt to draw distinction between “the attitude of the Party to Trotskyism as the
REPLY TO OLEKHNOVICH AND ARISTOV
131
theory and practice of a bourgeois agency in the working-class movement” and the “attitude of the Party at a
definite historical period to Trotsky and the Trotskyists.”
In the first place, as I stated above, you are making
a mistake, a scholastic mistake, by artificially separating Trotskyism from the Trotskyists and, conversely,
the Trotskyists from Trotskyism. The history of our
Party tells us that such a separation, in so far as some
section or other of the Party did make it, was
always and entirely to the advantage of Trotskyism,
making it easier for the latter to cover up its traces when
launching attacks against the Party. I may tell you
confidentially that you are performing a very great service to Trotsky and the Trotskyist smugglers by introducing into our general political practice the method of
artificially separating the question of Trotskyism from
the question of the Trotskyists.
In the second place, having made this mistake you
are compelled to make another that follows from the first,
namely the assumption that “at a definite historical
period” the Party regarded Trotsky and the Trotskyists
as real Bolsheviks. But this assumption is quite wrong
and altogether incompatible with the historical facts of
the inner-Party struggle between the Trotskyists and
the Leninists. How are we to explain in that case the
unceasing struggle between the Party and the Trotskyists throughout the period in which they were in the
Party? Are you not supposing that it was a squabble and
not a fight based on principle?
So you see that your “correction” to my “letter to the
editorial board of Proletarskaya Revolutsia” leads to an
absurdity
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J. V. S T A L I N
As a matter of fact Trotskyism was a faction of
Menshevism until the Trotskyists entered our Party; it
became temporarily a faction of communism after the
Trotskyists entered our Party, and it became once more
a faction of Menshevism after the Trotskyists were
driven out of our Party. “The dog returned to his vomit.”
Hence:
a) it cannot be asserted that “at a definite histori c a l p e r i o d ” t h e P a r t y c o n s i d e r e d Tr o t s k y a n d t h e
Trotskyists real Bolsheviks, for such a supposition
would flatly contradict the facts of the history of our
Party during the period 1917-27;
b) it cannot be considered that Trotskyism (the
Trotskyists) “was all the time a faction of Menshevism,”
for such a supposition would lead to the conclusion
that in 1917-27 our Party was a bloc between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks and not a monolithic Bolshevik party, which is quite wrong and at variance
with the fundamentals of Bolshevism;
c) the question of Trotskyism cannot be artificially separated from the question of the Trotskyists without one running the risk of becoming involuntarily an instrument of Trotskyist machinations.
What conclusion then remains? This one thing: to
agree that “at a definite historical period” Trotskyism
was a faction of communism, a faction which wavered
between Bolshevism and Menshevism.
J. Stalin
January 15, 1932
REPLY TO OLEKHNOVICH AND ARISTOV
133
To Comrade Aristov
You are under a misapprehension, Comrade Aristov.
There is no contradiction between the article “The
October Revolution and the Tactics of the Russian
Communists” 31 (1924) and the “Letter to the Editorial
Board of Proletarskaya Revolutsia” (1931). These two
documents concern different aspects of the question,
and this has seemed to you to be a “contradiction.”
But there is no “contradiction” here.
The article “The October Revolution” states that
in 1905 it was not Rosa Luxemburg, but Parvus and
Trotsky who advanced the theory of “permanent” revolution against Lenin. This fully corresponds to historical fact. It was Parvus who in 1905 came to Russia and edited a special newspaper in which he actively
came out in favour of “permanent” revolution against
Lenin’s “conception,” it was Parvus and then, after
and together with him, Trotsky—it was this pair that
at the time bombarded Lenin’s plan of revolution,
counterposing to it the theory of “permanent” revolution. As for Rosa Luxemburg, she kept behind the scenes
in those days, abstained from active struggle against
Lenin in this matter, evidently preferring not to become
involved as yet in the struggle.
In the polemic against Radek contained in the article “The October Revolution and the Tactics of the
Russian Communists,” I focussed attention on Parvus
because when Radek spoke about the year 1905 and “permanent” revolution, he purposely kept silent about
Parvus. He kept silent about Parvus because after
134
J. V. S T A L I N
1905 Parvus had become an odious figure. He became
a millionaire and turned into a direct agent of the German imperialists. Radek was averse to having the theory of “permanent” revolution linked up with the obnoxious name of Parvus; he wanted to dodge the facts of
history. But I stepped in and frustrated Radek’s manoeuvre by establishing the historical truth and giving
Parvus his due.
That is how the matter stands with regard to the
article “The October Revolution and the Tactics of
the Russian Communists.”
As for the “Letter to the Editorial Board of Proletarskaya Revolutsia,” that treats of another aspect of
the question, namely, the fact that the theory of “permanent” revolution was invented by Rosa Luxemburg
and Parvus. This, too, corresponds to historical fact.
It was not Trotsky but Rosa Luxemburg and Parvus
who invented the theory of “permanent” revolution.
It was not Rosa Luxemburg but Parvus and Trotsky
who in 1905 advanced the theory of “permanent” revolution and actively fought for it against Lenin.
Subsequently Rosa Luxemburg, too, began to fight
actively against the Leninist plan of revolution. But
that was after 1905.
J. Stalin
January 25, 1932
Bolshevik, No. 16
August 30, 1932
MAGNITOGORSK IRON AND STEEL
WORKS PROJECT, MAGNITOGORSK
Telegraphic news has been received of the completion of the inauguration period and full operation of
the first giant blast furnace in the U.S.S.R., producing
daily over a thousand tons of foundry pig iron, equivalent to a daily output of about twelve hundred tons
of pig iron for conversion into steel.
I congratulate the workers and the administrative
and technical personnel of the Magnitogorsk Iron and
Steel Works on their successful fulfilment of the first
part of the works’ programme.
I congratulate them on mastering the technique of
this unique gigantic blast furnace, the first in Europe.
Greetings to the men and women shock brigaders
of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, who under
the adverse conditions of winter fought and overcame
the difficulties of inaugurating the blast furnace and
putting it into full operation and who are readily taking upon themselves the brunt of the work of building
the plant!
I have no doubt that the Magnitogorsk workers
will likewise successfully fulfil the main part of the
1932 programme, will build three more blast furnaces,
open-hearth furnaces and rolling machinery, and will
thus fulfil with honour their duty to their country.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 89,
March 30, 1932
REPLY TO THE LETTER
OF Mr. RICHARDSON,32 REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWS AGENCY
To Mr. Richardson
This is not the first time that false rumours that
I am ill are circulating in the bourgeois press. Obviously, there are people to whose interest it is that I should
fall ill seriously and for a long time, if not worse. Perhaps it is not very tactful of me, but unfortunately I
have no data capable of gratifying these gentlemen.
Sad though it may be, nothing will avail against facts,
viz., that I am in perfect health. As for Mr. Zondeck,
he can attend to the health of other comrades, which
is why he has been invited to come to the U.S.S.R.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 93,
April 3, 1932
THE IMPORTANCE AND TASKS
OF THE COMPLAINTS BUREAUS
The work of the Complaints Bureaus 33 is of tremendous importance in the struggle to remove shortcomings
in our Party, Soviet, economic, trade-union and Komsomol apparatuses, in improving our administrative
apparatus.
Lenin said that without an apparatus we should have
perished long ago, and that without a systematic, stubborn struggle to improve the apparatus we should certainly perish. This means that resolute and systematic
struggle against conservatism, bureaucracy and red
tape in our apparatus is an essential task of the Party,
the working class and all the working people of our
country.
The tremendous importance of the Complaints Bureaus consists in their being a serious means of carrying
out Lenin’s behest concerning the struggle to improve
the apparatus.
It is indisputable that the Complaints Bureaus have
considerable achievements to their credit in this field.
The task is to consolidate the results attained and to
achieve decisive successes in this matter. There can be
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J. V. S T A L I N
no doubt that if the Complaints Bureaus rally around
them all the more active sections of the workers and
collective farmers, drawing them into the work of administering the state and attentively heeding the voice
of the working people both within and without the
Party, these decisive successes will be won.
Let us hope that the five-day review of the work
of the Complaints Bureaus will serve as a stimulus for
further expansion of their work along the line indicated by our teacher Lenin.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 97,
April 7, 1932
REPLIES TO THE QUESTIONS
OF RALPH V. BARNES
May 3, 1932
1st Question: Certain circles in America are intensely discussing at the present time the possibility of
sending to Moscow an unofficial American trade representative, accompanied by a staff of specialists, for promoting the establishment of closer trade connections
between the United States and the U.S.S.R. What would
be the attitude of the Soviet Government to such a
proposal?
Stalin: In general, the U.S.S.R. gladly receives
trade representatives and specialists of countries which
maintain normal relations with it. As regards the U.S.A.,
I believe the Soviet Government would look favourably
upon such an undertaking.
2nd Question: If certain of the obstacles existing
on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean to an expansion
of Soviet-American trade were removed, what would
be the approximate volume of orders that the U.S.S.R.
would be in a position to place in the United States?
Stalin: It is difficult to name a figure in advance
without the risk of making a mistake. In any event
the growing requirements of the U.S.S.R. and the vast
possibilities of the industry of the U.S.A. fully warrant
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J. V. S T A L I N
the belief that the volume of orders would increase several times over.
3rd Question: Certain responsible circles in the U.S.A.
are under the quite definite impression that obvious similarity has been revealed in the reaction of the Soviet
and the American Governments to events in the Far
East during the last seven months, and that in general
as a consequence of this the divergence in policy between
the Soviets and America has become less than hitherto.
What is your opinion in this regard?
Stalin: It is impossible to say anything definite, since
unfortunately it is very difficult to grasp the essentials of the Far Eastern policy of the U.S.A. As far as
the Soviet Union is concerned, it has adhered, and will
continue to adhere, to a firm policy of maintaining peace
both with Japan and with Manchuria and China as a
whole.
4th Question: There is a great difference between
your country and mine, but there is also obvious similarity. Each occupies a vast territory in which there are
no such obstacles to trade as tariff barriers. Stupid traditions, of course, interfere less with economic activity
in the U.S.S.R. and the United States than in other
first-rate powers. The process of industrialisation in
the U.S.S.R. is more like the same process in the United
States than that in other West-European Powers. In my
preceding question I already indicated that in some cases
policy in Moscow and Washington is not so much at
variance as might have been expected. Lastly, there is
undoubtedly a deep friendly feeling between the American
and Soviet peoples despite all the obvious difference
between them. In view of these facts, would it not be
REPLIES TO THE QUESTIONS OF RALPH V. BARNES
141
possible to inspire the conviction in the minds of both
peoples that no armed clash between the two countries
should ever under any circumstances be allowed to occur?
Stalin: There can be nothing easier than to convince
the peoples of both countries of the harm and criminal
character of mutual extermination. But, unfortunately,
questions of war and peace are not always decided by the
peoples. I have no doubt that the masses of the people
of the U.S.A. did not want war with the peoples of the
U.S.S.R. in 1918-19. This, however, did not prevent
the U.S.A. Government from attacking the U.S.S.R.
in 1918 (in conjunction with Japan, Britain and
France) and from continuing its military intervention
against the U.S.S.R. right up to 1919. As for the
U.S.S.R., proof is hardly required to show that what
its peoples as well as its government want is that “no
armed clash between the two countries should ever under
any circumstances” be able to occur.
5th Question: Contradictory reports have been spread
in America concerning the real nature of the Second
Five-Year Plan. Is it true that between January 1, 1933,
and the end of 1937 the daily needs of the Soviet population will be satisfied to a greater extent than hitherto?
In other words, will light industry really develop to a
greater extent than before?
Stalin: Yes, light industry will develop to a much
greater extent than before.
Published for the first time
KUZNETSK IRON AND STEEL WORKS
PROJECT, KUZNETSK
Greetings to the men and women shock brigaders,
the technical personnel and the entire executive staff
of the Kuznetsk Works, who have achieved a high output of pig iron at Blast Furnace No. 1 and who have displayed Bolshevik tempo in mastering the most modern
technology.
I am confident that the personnel of the Kuznetsk Iron
and Steel Works Project will improve on the successes they
have achieved, operate Blast Furnace No. 2 with no less
success, complete the building of the open-hearth furnaces
and the rolling mill within the next few months and
will also complete and put into operation this
third and fourth blast furnaces.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 97,
May 24, 1932
GREETING TO THE SEVENTH
ALL-UNION CONFERENCE
OF THE ALL-UNION LENINIST
YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE 34
Greetings to the Leninist Young Communist League
fighters, to the delegates, young men and women, of the
League’s Seventh All-Union Conference!
I wish you success in the communist education and
organisation of the vast masses of the working-class and
peasant youth!
Hold high the banner of Leninist internationalism, work
for peace and friendship among the peoples, strengthen
the defence of our country against capitalist invasion,
shatter the old world of slavery and exploitation, build
and consolidate the new world of emancipated labour and
communism, learn in all your work to combine powerful
revolutionary enthusiasm with the sustained efficiency
of Bolshevik builders, be worthy sons and daughters of
our mother, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union!
Long live the Y.C.L. generation!
J. Stalin
July 8, 1932
Pravda, No. 188,
July 9, 1932
CONGRATULATIONS TO MAXIM GORKY 35
Dear Alexei Maximovich,
I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and
firmly clasp your hand. I wish you many years of life
and labour, to the joy of all the working people and the
terror of the enemies of the working class.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 266,
September 25, 1932
TO THE BUILDERS OF THE DNIEPER
HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER STATION
Unfortunately I shall be unable to comply with your
request to attend the inauguration of the Dnieper Power
Station as my work makes it impossible for me to leave
Moscow.
Hearty greetings and congratulations to the workers
and the executive personnel of the Dnieper Power Station
on the successful completion of this great historic work
of construction.
I firmly shake the hands of the Dnieper Power
Station shock brigaders, the glorious heroes of socialist
construction.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 281,
October 10, 1932
GREETINGS TO LENINGRAD
Greetings to Bolshevik Leningrad, the cradle of
Soviet power, on the fifteenth anniversary of the birth
of the power of the Soviets!
Long live the Leningrad workers, the first to raise
the banner of the October uprising against capitalism,
who smashed the power of the capitalists and established
the power of the workers and peasants—the dictatorship
of the proletariat!
Forward to new victories, comrades of Leningrad!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 309,
November 7, 1932
LETTER TO THE EDITORIAL BOARD
OF THE NEWSPAPER PRAVDA
My sincere thanks to the organisations, institutions,
comrades and friends who have expressed their condolences on the occasion of the passing away of my beloved
friend and comrade, Nadezhda Sergeyevna AlliluyevaStalina.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 318,
November 18, 1932
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
A book in English entitled Russia—Market or Menace?, written by Mr. Campbell, a well-known figure in
the agricultural world, who had visited the U.S.S.R.,
recently made its appearance in America. In this book
Mr. Campbell, among other things, gives an account
of what he calls an “interview” with Stalin that took
place in Moscow in January 1929. This “interview”
is remarkable for the fact that its every sentence is either pure fiction or a sensational piece of trickery
with the aim of gaining publicity for the book and its
author.
It will not be amiss, in my opinion, to say a few
words in order to expose these fictitious statements.
Mr. Campbell is obviously drawing on his imagination when he says that his talk with Stalin, which began at 1 p.m., “lasted until well after dark, in fact,
until dawn.” Actually, the talk did not last more
than two hours. Mr. Campbell’s imagination is truly
American.
Mr. Campbell is stretching the truth when he asserts
that Stalin “took my hand in both of his and
said: ‘we can be friends.’” As a matter of fact,
nothing of the kind happened or could have happened.
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
149
Mr. Campbell cannot but know that Stalin has no need
of “friends” of the Campbell type.
Mr. Campbell again stretches the truth when he
says that on sending him a record of the talk, I added
the postscript: “Keep this record, it may be a very historical document some day.” As a matter of fact the
record was sent to Mr. Campbell by the translator Yarotsky without any postscript at all. Mr. Campbell’s
desire to make capital out of Stalin obviously betrays
him.
Mr. Campbell still further stretches the truth when he
puts such words into the mouth of Stalin as that “under
Trotsky there had been an attempt to spread communism
throughout the world; that this was the primary cause
of the break between himself [i.e., Stalin] and Trotsky;
that Trotsky believed in universal communism, while
he [Stalin] worked to confine his efforts to his own
country.” Only people who have deserted to the camp of
the Kautskys and the Welses can believe such stuff
and nonsense, in which the facts are turned upsidedown. As a matter of fact, the talk with Campbell had
no bearing on the Trotsky question and Trotsky’s name
was not mentioned at all in the course of it.
And so on in the same strain. . . .
Mr. Campbell mentioned in his book the record of
his talk with Stalin but he did not find it necessary
to publish it in his book. Why? Was it not because
publication of the record would have upset Mr. Campbell’s plan to utilise the sensational fables about the
“interview” with Stalin in order to gain publicity
for Campbell’s book among the American philistines?
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J. V. S T A L I N
I think the best punishment for the lying Mr.,
Campbell would be to publish the record of the talk
between Mr. Campbell and Stalin. This would be the
surest means of exposing his lies and establishing the
facts.
J. Stalin
November 23, 1932
RECORD OF THE TALK WITH MR. CAMPBELL
January 28, 1929
After an exchange of preliminary phrases Mr. Campbell explained his desire to pay a visit to Comrade Stalin.
He pointed out that although he was in the U.S.S.R.
in a private capacity, he had, before leaving the United
States, seen Coolidge and also Hoover, the newly elected
President, and received their full approval of his trip
to Russia. His stay here showed him the amazing activity
of the nation that has remained an enigma to the whole
world. He particularly liked the projects for the development of agriculture. He knew of the existence of many
wrong notions about Russia, but had himself been in the
Kremlin, for instance, and had seen the work being done
to preserve memorials of art and in general to raise the
level of cultural life. He was particularly struck by the
solicitude for working men and working women. It
seemed to him an interesting coincidence that before
his departure from the United States he was invited
by the President, and saw Coolidge’s son and wife
while yesterday he was the guest of Mikhail Kalinin,
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
151
President of the U.S.S.R., who impressed him tremendously.
Comrade Stalin: With regard to our plans of agricultural and industrial development, as well as our concern
for the development of cultural life, we are still at the
very beginning of our work. In the building up of industry we have done very little as yet. Still less has
been done in carrying out the plans for agricultural reconstruction. We must not forget that our country was
exceedingly backward and that this backwardness is
still a great handicap.
The difference between the former and the new leading figures in Russia consists, among other things, in
the fact that the old ones considered the country’s backwardness one of its good points, regarding it as a “national characteristic,” a matter for “national pride,” whereas
the new people, the Soviet people, combat it as an evil that
must be rooted out. Herein lies the guarantee of our
success.
We know that we are not free from mistakes. But we
do not fear criticism, are not afraid to face the difficulties and admit our mistakes. We shall accept correct
criticism and welcome it. We watch developments in the
U.S.A., for that country ranks high in science and technology. We would like scientific and technical people
in America to be our teachers in the sphere of technique,
and we their pupils.
Every period in the development of a nation is marked
by a passion of its own. In Russia we now witness a
passion for construction. This is her preponderating feature today. This explains the construction fever that we
are experiencing at present. It is reminiscent of the pe-
152
J. V. S T A L I N
riod that the U.S.A. went through after the Civil War. 36
This affords a basis and an opportunity for technical, industrial and commercial co-operation with the U.S.A.
I do not know what still needs to be done to secure contact with American industry. Could you not explain
what now prevents such a rapprochement from being
realised, if it is established that such contact would be
advantageous to both the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A.?
Mr. Campbell: I am certain that there is a striking
similarity between the U.S.A. and Russia in point of
size, resources and independence. Mr. Stalin’s reference
to the Civil War period is correct. After the Civil War
extraordinary expansion was witnessed. The people in
the U.S.A. are interested in Russia. I am sure that Russia
is too big a country not to be a big factor in world relations. The people at the head of the Russian Government have grand opportunities to accomplish great things.
All that is needed for this is clarity of judgment and the
ability to be fair at all times.
I see the advantage of proper business contact and
I am maintaining close connection with the government,
although I am a private citizen. I am carrying on this
conversation as a private person. Once I have been asked
what hinders contact between the U.S.A. and Russia
I want to answer with the utmost frankness and courage,
with due respect for Mr. Stalin and without giving offence. He is very objective-minded and this allows me
to converse with him as man to man for the benefit of
both countries and absolutely confidentially. If we could
have official recognition everybody would be anxious
to get here to do business on a credit or other basis, as
is being done everywhere. A reason why American firms
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
153
hesitate to do business and grant long-term credits is
the fact that our Washington Government does not recognise your Government.
The main reason for this, however, is not simply
failure in the matter of recognition. The main reason,
we assume (and this may be taken as certain), is that
representatives of your Government in our country are
trying all the time to sow discontent and spread the ideas
of Soviet power.
We have in our country what is called the “Monroe
Doctrine,” which signifies that we do not want to interfere in the affairs of any other country in the world,
that we confine ourselves strictly to our own affairs.
For that reason we do not want any country whatever—
Britain, France, Germany, Russia or any other—to interfere in our private affairs.
Russia is so vast a country that she can by herself
fulfil everything that her whole people decide to do.
Russia has resources of her own of every kind, and although it will take more time the Russians in the long
run will be able to develop their resources independently.
It gives us pleasure to feel that in many respects
we are an ideal for the Russian people, and I believe
we can be very useful to that people, particularly in
economising time. Since we have solved many economic
problems and our methods are copied by many countries
besides Russia, such enterprises as the building of state
farms imply a strengthening of trade connections, and
in the final analysis trade connections will be followed
by diplomatic recognition on some equitable basis.
The only way for nations, as for individuals, is to speak
154
J. V. S T A L I N
out frankly without discourtesy, and then the time will
soon come for some kind of agreement. The better our
upbringing the greater our conviction that more can be
achieved by reason than by any other means. Great nations can differ in opinion without straining relations
and great men can come to an arrangement on major problems. They usually wind up their negotiations with a definite agreement in which they meet each other halfway, no matter how far apart their initial positions
were.
Comrade Stalin: I realise that diplomatic recognition involves difficulties for the U.S.A. at the present
moment. Soviet Government representatives have been
subjected to abuse by the American press so much and so
often that an abrupt change is difficult. Personally I
do not consider diplomatic recognition decisive at the
moment. What is important is a development of trade
connections on the basis of mutual advantage. Trade relations need to be normalised and if this matter is put
on some legal footing it would be a first and very important step towards diplomatic recognition. The question
of diplomatic recognition will find its own solution when
both sides realise that diplomatic relations are advantageous. The chief basis is trade relations and their normalisation, which will lead to the establishment of definite legal norms.
The natural resources of our country are, of course,
rich and varied. They are richer and more varied than is
officially known, and our research expeditions are constantly finding new resources in our extensive country.
But this is only one aspect of our potentialities. The
other aspect is the fact that our peasants and workers
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
155
are now rid of their former burden, the landlords and
capitalists. Formerly the landlords and capitalists used
to squander unproductively what today remains within
the country and increases its internal purchasing power.
The increase in demand is such that our industry, in
spite of its rapid expansion, cannot catch up with it.
The demand is prodigious, both for personal and productive consumption. This is the second aspect of our unlimited potentialities.
Both the one and the other give rise to an important
basis for commercial and industrial contact with the
U.S.A. as well as other developed countries.
The question as to which state is to apply its forces
to these resources and potentialities of our country is
the object of a complicated struggle among them. Unfortunately the U.S.A. still stands quite aloof from this
struggle.
On all sides the Germans are shouting that the position of the Soviet Government is unstable and that
therefore one ought not to grant any considerable credits to Soviet economic organisations. At the same time
they try to monopolise trade relations with the U.S.S.R.
by granting it credits.
As you know, one group of British businessmen is
also carrying on a fierce anti-Soviet campaign. At the
same time this very group and also the McKenna group
are endeavouring to organise credits for the U.S.S.R.
The press has already reported that in February a delegation of British industrialists and bankers will come
to the U.S.S.R. They intend to submit to the Soviet
Government an extensive plan for trade relations and a
loan.
156
J. V. S T A L I N
How are we to explain this duplicity of the German
and British businessmen? It is to be explained by their
desire to monopolise trade relations with the U.S.S.R.,
frightening the U.S.A. away and pushing it aside.
At the same time, it is clear to me that the U.S.A.
has better grounds for extensive business connections
with the U.S.S.R. than any other country. And this is
not only because the U.S.A. is rich both in technical
equipment and capital, but also because in no other
country are our business people given such a cordial and
hospitable welcome as in the U.S.A.
As regards propaganda, I must state most emphatically that no representative of the Soviet Government has
the right to interfere, either directly or indirectly, in
the internal affairs of the country in which he happens
to be. In this respect the most strict and definite instructions have been given to all our personnel employed
in Soviet institutions in the U.S.A. I am certain that
Bron and the members of his staff do not have the slightest connection with propaganda in any form whatsoever.
Should any of our employees violate these strict directives as regards non-interference he would immediately
be recalled and punished. Naturally we cannot answer
for the actions of persons not known and not subordinate
to us. But we can assume responsibility as regards interference by persons employed in our institutions
abroad, and we can give the maximum guarantees on
that score.
Mr. Campbell: May I tell that to Mr. Hoover?
Comrade Stalin: Of course.
Mr. Campbell: We do not know who those people
are that sow discontent. But there are such people. The
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
157
police find them and their literature. I know Bron and
am convinced that he is an honest, straightforward gentleman, who does business honestly. But there is somebody.
Comrade Stalin: It is possible that propaganda in
favour of Soviets is being carried on in the U.S.A. by
members of the American Communist Party. But that
party is legal in the U.S.A., it legally participates
in Presidential elections and nominates its candidates for President, and it is quite clear that we cannot
b e i n t e r f e r i n g i n y o u r i n t e r n a l a ff a i r s i n t h i s c a s e
either.
Mr. Campbell: I have no further questions. But yes,
I have. When I return to the United States businessmen
will ask me whether it is safe to do business with the
U.S.S.R. Engineering concerns in particular will be interested in the possibility of granting long-term credits.
Can I answer in the affirmative? Can I obtain information
on the measures now being taken by the Soviet Government to guarantee credit transactions; is there any special tax or other specific source of revenue set aside
for this purpose?
Comrade Stalin: I would prefer not to sing the praises
of my country. But now that the question has been
put I must reply as follows: There has not been a single
instance of the Soviet Government or a Soviet economic
institution failing to make payment correctly and on
time on credits, whether short-term or long-term. Inquiries
could be made in Germany on how we meet payments
to the Germans on their credit of three hundred millions.
Where do we get the means to effect payment? Mr. Campbell knows that money does not drop from the sky. Our
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J. V. S T A L I N
agriculture, industry, trade, timber, oil, gold, platinum,
etc.—such is the source of our payments. Therein lies
the guarantee of our payments. I do not want Mr. Campbell to take my word for it. He can check my statements in Germany, for example. He will find that not
once was payment postponed, although at times we
actually had to pay such unheard-of interest rates as
15-20%.
As far as special guarantees are concerned, I believe
there is no need to speak of this seriously in the case
of the U.S.S.R.
Mr. Campbell: Of course not.
Comrade Stalin: Perhaps it would not be amiss to
tell you, strictly confidentially, about the loan, not
credit but loan, offered by a group of British bankers—
that of Balfour and Kingsley.
Mr. Campbell: May I tell Hoover about this?
Comrade Stalin: Of course, but don’t give it to the
press. This group of bankers are making the following
proposal:
They calculate that our debts to Britain amount
approximately to £400,000,000.
It is proposed that they be consolidated at 25%.
That means £100,000.000 instead of £400,000,000.
Simultaneously a loan of £100,000,000 is proposed.
Thus our indebtedness will amount to £200,000,000
to be paid in instalments over a period of several decades.
In return we are to give preference to the British engineering industry. This does not mean that we shall
have to place our orders in Britain alone, but the British must be given preference.
MR. CAMPBELL STRETCHES THE TRUTH
159
Mr. Campbell, in expressing his thanks for the interview, says that Comrade Stalin has impressed him as
a fair, well-informed and straightforward man. He is
very glad to have had the opportunity of speaking
with Comrade Stalin and considers the interview
historic.
Comrade Stalin thanks Mr. Campbell for the talk.
Bolshevik, No. 22,
November 30, 1932
THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE OGPU
Greetings to the officials and troops of the OGPU,
who are honestly and courageously fulfilling their duty
to the working class and the peasantry of the Soviet
Union!
I wish them success in the difficult task of eradicating the enemies of the dictatorship of the proletariat!
Long live the OGPU, the bared sword of the working class!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 350,
December 20, 1932
JOINT PLENUM OF THE C.C. AND C.C.C.,
C.P.S.U.(B.) 37
January 7-12, 1933
Pravda, Nos. 10 and 17,
January 10 and 17, 1933
THE RESULTS
OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
Report Delivered on January 7, 1933
I
THE INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN
Comrades, when the five-year plan was published, people hardly anticipated that it could be of tremendous
international significance. On the contrary, many thought
t h a t t h e f i v e - y e a r p l a n w a s a p r i v a t e a ff a i r o f t h e
Soviet Union—an important and serious affair, but nevertheless a private, national affair of the Soviet Union.
History has shown, however, that the international
significance of the five-year plan is immeasurable. History has shown that the five-year plan is not the private
affair of the Soviet Union, but the concern of the whole
international proletariat.
Long before the five-year plan appeared on the scene,
in the period when we were finishing our struggle against
the interventionists and were going over to the work
of economic construction—even in that period Lenin
said that our economic construction was of profound international significance; that every step forward taken
by the Soviet Government along the path of economic
construction was finding a powerful response among the
most varied strata in capitalist countries and dividing
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J. V. S T A L I N
people into two camps—the camp of the supporters of
the proletarian revolution and the camp of its opponents.
Lenin said at that time:
“At the present time we are exercising our main influence on
the international revolution by our economic policy. All eyes
are turned on the Soviet Russian Republic, the eyes of all toilers
in all countries of the world without exception and without exaggeration. This we have achieved. . . . That is the field to which
the struggle has been transferred on a world-wide scale. If we
solve this problem, we shall have won on an international scale
surely and finally. That is why questions of economic construction assume absolutely exceptional significance for us. On this
front we must win victory by slow, gradual—it cannot be fast—
but steady progress upward and forward” (see Vol. XXVI,
pp. 410-11 38) .
This was said at the time when we were bringing to a
close the war against the interventionists, when we were
passing from the military struggle against capitalism
to the struggle on the economic front, to the period of
economic development.
Many years have elapsed since then, and every step
taken by the Soviet Government in the sphere of economic development, every year, every quarter, has brilliantly confirmed Comrade Lenin’s words.
But the most brilliant confirmation of the correctness
of Lenin’s words has been provided by our five-year plan
of construction, by the emergence of this plan, its development and its fulfilment. Indeed, it seems that no step
taken along the path of economic development in our
country has met with such a response among the most
varied strata in the capitalist countries of Europe, America and Asia as the question of the five-year plan, its
development and its fulfilment.
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165
At first the bourgeoisie and its press greeted the
five-year plan with ridicule. “Fantasy,” “delirium,”
“utopia”—that is how they dubbed our five-year plan
at that time.
Later on, when it began to be evident that the fulfilment of the five-year plan was producing real results,
they began to sound the alarm, asserting that the fiveyear plan was threatening the existence of the capitalist countries, that its fulfilment would lead to the flooding of European markets with goods, to intensified dumping and the increase of unemployment.
Still later, when this trick used against the Soviet
regime also failed to produce the expected results, a series of voyages to the U.S.S.R. was undertaken by representatives of all sorts of firms, organs of the press, societies of various kinds, etc., for the purpose of seeing
with their own eyes what was actually going on in the
U.S.S.R. I am not referring here to the workers’ delegations, which, from the very first appearance of the fiveyear plan, have expressed their admiration of the undertakings and successes of the Soviet regime and manifested their readiness to support the working class of the
U.S.S.R.
From that time a cleavage began in so-called public opinion, in the bourgeois press, in all kinds of bourgeois societies, etc. Some maintained that the fiveyear plan had utterly failed and that the Bolsheviks
were on the verge of collapse. Others, on the contrary, declared that although the Bolsheviks were bad
people, their five-year plan was nevertheless going
well and in all probability they would achieve their
object.
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It will not be superfluous, perhaps, to quote the
opinions of various bourgeois press organs.
Take, for example, an American newspaper, The New
York Times. 39 At the end of November 1932 this newspaper wrote:
“A five-year industrial plan which sets out to defy the sense
of proportion, which drives towards an objective ‘regardless of
cost,’ as Moscow has often proudly boasted, is really not a plan.
It is a gamble.”
So it seems that the five-year plan is not even a plan,
but a sheer gamble.
And here is the opinion of a British bourgeois newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, 40 expressed at the end of
November 1932:
“As a practical test of ‘planned economics’ the scheme has
quite clearly failed.”
The opinion of The New York Times in November 1932:
“The collectivisation campaign is of course a ghastly
failure. It has brought Russia to the verge of famine.”
The opinion of a bourgeois newspaper in Poland,
Gazeta Polska, 41 in the summer of 1932:
“The situation seems to show that in its policy of collectivising the countryside the government of the Soviets has reached
an impasse.”
The opinion of a British bourgeois newspaper, The
Financial Times, 42 in November 1932:
“Stalin and his party, as the outcome of their policy, find
themselves faced with the breakdown of the five-year plan system
and frustration of the aims it was expected to achieve.”
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167
The opinion of the Italian magazine Politica 43:
“It would be absurd to think that nothing has been created
in four years’ work by a nation consisting of a hundred and sixty
million, in four years of super-human economic and political effort
on the part of a regime of such strength as the Bolshevik regime
represents. On the contrary, a great deal has been done. . . .
Nevertheless, the catastrophe is evident—it is a fact obvious to
all. Friends and enemies, Bolsheviks and anti-Bolsheviks, oppositionists on the Right and on the Left are convinced of this.”
Finally, the opinion of the American bourgeois magazine Current History 44 :
“A survey of the existing posture of affairs in Russia, therefore, leads to the conclusion that the five-year programme has
failed both in terms of its announced statistical objectives and
more fundamentally in terms of certain of its underlying social
principles.”
Such are the opinions of one section of the bourgeois
press.
It is hardly worth while to criticise those who gave
utterance to these opinions. I think it is not worth while.
It is not worth while because these “die-hards” belong
to the species of mediaeval fossils to whom facts mean
nothing, and who will persist in their opinion no matter
how our five-year plan is fulfilled.
Let us turn to the opinions of other press organs
belonging to the same bourgeois camp.
Here is the opinion of a well-known bourgeois newspaper in France, Le Temps, 45 expressed in January 1932:
“The U.S.S.R. has won the first round, having industrialised
herself without the aid of foreign capital.”
The opinion of Le Temps again, expressed in the summer of 1932:
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J. V. S T A L I N
“Communism is completing the process of reconstruction
with enormous speed, whereas the capitalist system permits only
of progress at a slow pace. . . . In France, where the land is infinitely divided up among individual property owners, it is impossible to mechanise agriculture; the Soviets, however, by industrialising agriculture, have solved the problem. . . . In the
contest with us the Bolsheviks have proved the victors.”
The opinion of a British bourgeois magazine, The
Round Table 46:
“The development achieved under the five-year plan is astounding. The tractor plants of Kharkov and Stalingrad, the AMO
automobile factory in Moscow, the automobile plant in NizhniNovgorod, the Dnieprostroi hydro-electric project, the mammoth
steel plants at Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk, the network of machine
shops and chemical plants in the Urals—which bid fair to become
Russia’s Ruhr—these and other industrial achievements all over
the country show that, whatever the shortcomings and difficulties, Russian industry, like a well-watered plant, keeps on
gaining colour, size and strength. . . . She has laid the foundations for future development . . . and has strengthened prodigiously her fighting capacity.”
The opinion of the British bourgeois newspaper, The
Financial Times:
“The progress made in machine construction cannot be doubted, and the celebrations of it in the press and on the platform,
glowing as they are, are not unwarranted. It must be remembered
that Russia, of course, produced machines and tools, but
only of the simplest kind. True, the importation of machines
and tools is actually increasing in absolute figures; but the proportion of imported machines to those of native production
is steadily diminishing. Russia is producing today all the
machinery essential to her metallurgical and electrical industries; has succeeded in creating her own automobile industry; has
established her own tool-making industry from small precision
instruments to the heaviest presses; and in the matter of agricultural machinery is independent of foreign imports. At the same
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
169
time, the Soviet Government is taking measures to prevent the
retardation of production in the output of such basic industries
as iron and coal endangering the fulfilment of the plan in four
years. The one thing certain is that the enormous plants now
being established guarantee a very considerable increase in the
output of the heavy industries.”
The opinion of an Austrian bourgeois newspaper, Die
Neue Freie Presse, 47 expressed in the beginning of 1932:
“ We m a y c u r s e B o l s h e v i s m , b u t w e m u s t u n d e r s t a n d i t .
The five-year plan is a new huge quantity which must be taken
into account in every economic calculation.”
The opinion of a British capitalist, Gibson Jarvie,
the president of the United Dominion Trust, expressed
in October 1932:
“Now I want it clearly understood that I am neither Communist nor Bolshevist, I am definitely a capitalist and an individualist. . . . Russia is forging ahead while all too many of our
factories and shipyards lie idle and approximately 3,000,000
of our people despairingly seek work. Jokes have been made about
the five-year plan, and its failure has been predicted. You can
take it as beyond question, that under the five-year plan much more
has been accomplished than was ever really anticipated. . . .
In all these industrial towns which I visited, a new city is
growing up, a city on a definite plan with wide streets in the
process of being beautified by trees and grass plots, houses of
the most modern type, schools, hospitals, workers’ clubs and the
inevitable crèche or nursery, where the children of working mothers
are cared for. . . . Don’t underrate the Russians or their plans and
don’t make the mistake of believing that the Soviet Government
must crash. . . . Russia today is a country with a soul and
a n i d e a l . R u s s i a i s a c o u n t r y o f a m a z i n g a c t i v i t y. I b e l i e v e
that the Russian objective is sound. . . . And perhaps most im-
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portant of all, all these youngsters and these workers in Russia
have one thing which is too sadly lacking in the capitalist
countries today, and that is—hope!”
The opinion of the American bourgeois magazine,
The Nation, 48 expressed in November 1932:
“The four years of the five-year plan have witnessed
truly remarkable developments. Russia is working with wartime intensity on the positive task of building the physical and
social moulds of a new life. The face of the country is being changed
literally beyond recognition . . . . This is true of Moscow, with
hundreds of streets and squares paved, with new suburbs, new
buildings, and a cordon of new factories on its outskirts, and it
is true of smaller and less important cities. New towns have sprung
out of the steppe, the wilderness, and the desert—not just a few
towns, but at least 50 of them with populations of from 50,000
to 250,000—all in the last four years, each constructed round an
enterprise for the development of some natural resource. Hundreds of new district power stations and a handful of ‘giants’
like Dnieprostroi are gradually putting reality into Lenin’s formula: ‘Electricity plus Soviets equals Socialism. . . .’ The Soviet Union now engages in the large-scale manufacture of an
endless variety of articles which Russia never before produced—
t r a c t o r s , c o m b i n e s , h i g h - g r a d e s t e e l s , s y n t h e t i c r u b b e r, b a l l
bearings, high-power diesel motors, 50,000-kilowatt turbines,
t e l e p h o n e - e x c h a n g e e q u i p m e n t , e l e c t r i c a l m i n i n g m a c h i n e r y,
aeroplanes, automobiles, lorries, bicycles, and several hundred types of new machines. . . . For the first time Russia
is mining aluminium, magnesium, apatite, iodine, potash,
and many other valuable minerals. The guiding landmark on the Soviet countryside is no longer the dome of
a church but the grain elevator and the silo. Collectives are
building piggeries, barns, and houses. Electricity is penetrating
the village, and radio and newspaper have conquered it. Workers are learning to operate the world’s most modern machines;
peasant boys make and use agricultural machinery bigger
and more complicated than ever America has seen. Russia is
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171
becoming ‘machine minded,’ Russia is passing quickly from the
age of wood into an age of iron, steel, concrete and motors.”
The opinion of a British “Left”-reformist magazine,
Forward, 49 expressed in September 1932:
“Nobody can fail to notice the enormous amount of building
work that is going on. New factories, new picture-houses, new
schools, new clubs, new big blocks of tenements, everywhere new buildings, many completed, others with scaffolding. It is difficult to convey to the mind of the British reader exactly what has been done, and what is being done. It
h a s t o b e s e e n t o b e b e l i e v e d . O u r o w n w a r t i m e e ff o r t s a r e
flea-bites to what has been done in Russia. Americans admit
that even in the greatest rush days in the West there could have
been nothing like the feverish building activity that is going
on in Russia today. One sees so many changes in the Russian
scene after two years that one gives up trying to imagine what
Russia will be like in another 10 years. . . . So dismiss from
your heads the fantastic scare stories of the British press
that lies so persistently, so contemptibly about Russia, and
all the half truths and misconceptions that are circulated
by the dilettante intelligentsia that look at Russia patronisingly through middle-class spectacles without having
the slightest understanding of what is going on. . . . Russia is building up a new society on what are, generally speaking,
fundamentally sound lines. To do this it is taking risks, it is
working enthusiastically with an energy that has never been seen
in the world before, it has tremendous difficulties inseparable
from this attempt to build up socialism in a vast, undeveloped
country isolated from the rest of the world. But the impression
I have, after seeing it again after two years, is that of a nation
making solid progress, planning, creating, constructing in a way
that is striking challenge to the hostile capitalist world.”
Such are the discordant voices and the cleavage in
the camp of bourgeois circles, of whom some stand for
the annihilation of the U.S.S.R. with its allegedly bank-
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rupt five-year plan, while others, apparently, stand for
commercial co-operation with the U.S.S.R., obviously
calculating that they can obtain some advantage for
themselves out of the success of the five-year plan.
The question of the attitude of the working class
in capitalist countries towards the five-year plan, towards the successes of socialist construction in the
U.S.S.R., is in a category by itself. It may be sufficient
to quote here the opinion of just one of the numerous
workers’ delegations that come to the U.S.S.R. every
year, for example, that of a Belgian workers’ delegation.
The opinion of this delegation is typical of that of all
workers’ delegations without exception, whether they
be British or French, German or American, or delegations
of other countries. Here it is:
“We are struck with admiration at the tremendous amount
of construction that we have witnessed during our travels. In
Moscow, as well as in Makeyevka, Gorlovka, Kharkov, an
Leningrad, we could see for ourselves with what enthusiasm the
work is carried on there. All the machines are the most up-todate models. The factories are clean, well ventilated and well
l i t . We s a w h o w m e d i c a l a s s i s t a n c e a n d h y g i e n i c c o n d i t i o n s
are provided for the workers in the U.S.S.R. The workers’
houses are built near the factories. Schools and crèches
are organised in the workers’ towns, and the children are
surrounded with every care. We could see the difference between the old and the newly constructed factories, between the
old and the new houses. All that we have seen has given us a clear
idea of the tremendous strength of the working people who are
building a new society under the leadership of the Communist
Party. In the U.S.S.R. we have observed a great cultural revival,
while in other countries there is decadence in all spheres, and
unemployment reigns. We were able to see the frightful difficulties the working people of the Soviet Union encounter on their
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
173
path. We can therefore appreciate all the more the pride with
which they point to their victories. We are convinced that they
will overcome all obstacles.”
There you have the international significance of
the five-year plan. It was enough for us to carry on construction work for a matter of two or three years, it
was enough for us to show the first successes of the fiveyear plan, for the whole world to be split into two camps
—the camp of those who never tire of snarling at us,
and the camp of those who are amazed at the successes
of the five-year plan, apart from the fact that we have
all over the world our own camp, which is growing stronger—the camp of the working class in the capitalist
countries, which rejoices at the successes of the working
class in the U.S.S.R. and is prepared to support it, to
the alarm of the bourgeoisie of the whole world.
What does this mean?
It means that there can be no doubt about the international significance of the five-year plan, about the
international significance of its successes and achievements.
It means that the capitalist countries are pregnant
with the proletarian revolution, and that precisely because they are pregnant with the proletarian revolution,
the bourgeoisie would like to find in a failure of the fiveyear plan a fresh argument against revolution; whereas the proletariat, on the other hand, is striving to find,
and indeed does find, in the successes of the five-year
plan a fresh argument in favour of revolution and against
the bourgeoisie of the whole world.
The successes of the five-year plan are mobilising the revolutionary forces of the working class of all
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countries against capitalism—such is the indisputable
fact.
There can be no doubt that the international revolutionary significance of the five-year plan is really immeasurable.
All the more attention, therefore, must we devote
to the question of the five-year plan, of the content of
the five-year plan, of the fundamental tasks of the fiveyear plan.
All the more carefully, therefore, must we analyse
the results of the five-year plan, the results of the carrying out and fulfilment of the five-year plan.
II
THE FUNDAMENTAL TASK OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN
AND THE WAY TO ITS FULFILMENT
We pass to the question of the essence of the five-year
plan.
What is the five-year plan?
What was the fundamental task of the five-year plan?
The fundamental task of the five-year plan was to
transfer our country, with its backward, and in part
medieval, technology, on to the lines of new, modern
technology.
The fundamental task of the five-year plan was to
convert the U.S.S.R. from an agrarian and weak country,
dependent upon the caprices of the capitalist countries,
into an industrial and powerful country, fully self-reliant
and independent of the caprices of world capitalism.
The fundamental task of the five-year plan was, in
converting the U.S.S.R. into an industrial country, to
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175
completely oust the capitalist elements, to widen the front
of socialist forms of economy, and to create the economic
basis for the abolition of classes in the U.S.S.R., for
the building of a socialist society.
The fundamental task of the five-year plan was to
create in our country an industry that would be capable
of re-equipping and reorganising, not only industry as
a whole, but also transport and agriculture—on the basis
of socialism.
The fundamental task of the five-year plan was to
transfer small and scattered agriculture on to the lines
of large-scale collective farming, so as to ensure the economic basis of socialism in the countryside and thus to
eliminate the possibility of the restoration of capitalism
in the U.S.S.R.
Finally, the task of the five-year plan was to create
all the necessary technical and economic prerequisites
for increasing to the utmost the defence capacity of the
country, enabling it to organise determined resistance
to any attempt at military intervention from abroad, to
any attempt at military attack from abroad.
What dictated this fundamental task of the five-year
plan; what were the grounds for it?
The necessity of putting an end to the technical
and economic backwardness of the Soviet Union, which
doomed it to an unenviable existence; the necessity
of creating in the country the prerequisites that would
enable it not only to overtake but in time to outstrip,
technically and economically, the advanced capitalist
countries.
Consideration of the fact that the Soviet regime
could not maintain itself for long on the basis of a back-
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ward industry; that only a modern large-scale industry,
one not merely not inferior to but capable in time of surpassing the industries of the capitalist countries, can serve
as a real and reliable foundation for the Soviet regime.
Consideration of the fact that the Soviet regime could
not for long rest upon two opposite foundations: on largescale socialist industry, which destroys the capitalist
elements, and on small, individual peasant farming, which
engenders capitalist elements.
Consideration of the fact that until agriculture was
placed on the basis of large-scale production, until the
small peasant farms were united into large collective
farms, the danger of the restoration of capitalism in
the U.S.S.R. was the most real of all possible dangers.
Lenin said:
“The result of the revolution has been that the p o l i t ic a l system of Russia has in a few months caught up with that
of the advanced countries.
“But that is not enough. The war is inexorable; it puts the
alternative with ruthless severity: either perish, or overtake
and outstrip the advanced countries e c o n o m i c a l l y a s
w e l l. . . . Perish or drive full steam ahead. That is the alternative with which history has confronted us” (see Vol. XXI,
p. 191 50 ).
Lenin said:
“As long as we live in a small-peasant country, there is a
surer economic basis for capitalism in Russia than for communism. This must be borne in mind. Anyone who has carefully
observed life in the countryside, as compared with life in the
towns, knows that we have not torn out the roots of capitalism and have not undermined the foundation, the basis of the
internal enemy. The latter depends on small-scale production,
and there is only one way of undermining it, namely, to place the
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177
economy of the country, including agriculture, on a new technical basis, the technical basis of modern large-scale production. . . .
Only when the country has been electrified, only when our industry, our agriculture, our transport system have been placed
upon the technical basis of modern large-scale industry, shall
we achieve final victory” (see Vol. XXVI, pp. 46-47 51).
These propositions formed the basis of those considerations of the Party that led to the drawing up of
the five-year plan and to determining its fundamental
task.
That is how matters stand with regard to the fundamental task of the five-year plan.
But the execution of such a gigantic plan cannot
be started haphazardly, just anyhow. In order to carry out
such a plan it is necessary first of all to find its main
link; for only after finding and grasping this main link
could a pull be exerted on all the other links of the plan.
What was the main link in the five-year plan?
The main link in the five-year plan was heavy industry, with machine building as its core. For only heavy
industry is capable of reconstructing both industry as a
whole, transport and agriculture, and of putting them
on their feet. It was necessary to begin the fulfilment
of the five-year plan with heavy industry. Consequently,
the restoration of heavy industry had to be made the
basis of the fulfilment of the five-year plan.
We have Lenin’s directives on this subject also:
“The salvation of Russia lies not only in a good harvest on
the peasant farms—that is not enough; and not only in the good
condition of light industry, which provides the peasantry with
consumer goods—that, too, is not enough; we also need heavy
industry. . . . Unless we save heavy industry, unless we restore
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it, we shall not be able to build up any industry; and without
it we shall be doomed altogether as an independent country. . . .
Heavy industry needs state subsidies. If we do not provide them,
then we are doomed as a civilised state—let alone as a socialist
state” (see Vol. XXVII, p. 349 52).
But the restoration and development of heavy industry, particularly in such a backward and poor country
as ours was at the beginning of the five-year plan period,
is an extremely difficult task; for, as is well known,
heavy industry calls for enormous financial expenditure
and the existence of a certain minimum of experienced
technical forces, without which, generally speaking, the
restoration of heavy industry is impossible. Did the
Party know this, and did it take this into account? Yes,
it did. Not only did the Party know this, but it announced
it for all to hear. The Party knew how heavy industry had been built in Britain, Germany and America.
It knew that in those countries heavy industry had been
built either with the aid of big loans, or by plundering
other countries, or by both methods simultaneously.
The Party knew that those paths were closed to our country. What, then, did it count on? It counted on our country’s own resources. It counted on the fact that, with a
Soviet government at the helm, and the land, industry,
transport, the banks and trade nationalised, we could
pursue a regime of the strictest economy in order to accumulate sufficient resources for the restoration and development of heavy industry. The Party declared frankly that this would call for serious sacrifices, and that
it was our duty openly and consciously to make these
sacrifices if we wanted to achieve our goal. The Party
counted on carrying through this task with the aid of
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179
the internal resources of our country—without enslaving
credits and loans from abroad.
Here is what Lenin said on this score:
“We must strive to build up a state in which the workers
retain their leadership of the peasants, in which they retain the
confidence of the peasants, and, by exercising the greatest economy, remove every trace of extravagance from our social relations.
“We must bring our state apparatus to the utmost degree
of economy. We must remove from it all traces of extravagance,
of which so much has been left over from tsarist Russia, from
its bureaucratic and capitalist apparatus.
“Will not this be a reign of peasant narrow-mindedness?
“No. If we see to it that the working class retains the leadership of the peasantry, we shall be able, by exercising the greatest possible economy in the economic life of our state, to use
every kopek we save to develop our large-scale machine industry,
to develop electrification, the hydraulic extraction of peat, to
finish the construction of Volkhovstroi, etc.
“In this, and this alone, lies our hope. Only when we have
done this will we, speaking figuratively, be able to change horses,
to change from the peasant, muzhik, horse of poverty, from the
horse of economy adapted to a ruined peasant country, to the
horse which the proletariat is seeking and cannot but seek—the
horse of large-scale machine industry, of electrification, of Volkhovstroi, etc.” (see Vol. XXVII, p. 417 53).
To change from the muzhik horse of poverty to the
horse of large-scale machine industry—such was the aim
of the Party in drawing up the five-year plan and striving for its fulfilment.
To establish a regime of the strictest economy and
to accumulate the resources necessary for financing the
industrialisation of our country—such was the path that
had to be taken in order to succeed in creating heavy
industry and in carrying out the five-year plan.
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A bold task? A difficult path? But our Party is
called a Leninist party precisely because it has no right
to fear difficulties.
More than that. The Party’s confidence in the feasibility of the five-year plan and its faith in the forces
of the working class were so strong that the Party found
it possible to undertake the fulfilment of this difficult
task not in five years, as was provided for in the fiveyear plan, but in four years, or, strictly speaking, in four
years and three months, if the special quarter be added.
That is what gave rise to the famous slogan, “The
Five-Year Plan in Four Years.”
And what happened?
Subsequent facts have shown that the Party was
right.
The facts have shown that without this boldness
and confidence in the forces of the working class, the
Party could not have achieved the victory of which we
are now so justly proud.
III
THE RESULTS
OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN IN FOUR YEARS
IN THE SPHERE OF INDUSTRY
Let us pass now to the results of the fulfilment of the
five-year plan.
What are the results of the five-year plan in four
years in the sphere of industry?
Have we achieved victories in this sphere?
Yes, we have. And not only that, but we have accomplished more than we ourselves expected, more than
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181
the ardent minds in our Party could have expected.
That is not denied now even by our enemies, and certainly our friends cannot deny it.
We did not have an iron and steel industry, the basis
for the industrialisation of the country. Now we have
one.
We did not have a tractor industry. Now we have
one.
We did not have an automobile industry. Now we
have one.
We did not have a machine-tool industry. Now we
have one.
We did not have a big and modern chemical industry.
Now we have one.
We did not have a real and big industry for the production of modern agricultural machinery. Now we have
one.
We did not have an aircraft industry. Now we have
one.
In output of electric power we were last on the list.
Now we rank among the first.
In output of oil products and coal we were last on
the list. Now we rank among the first.
We had only one coal and metallurgical base—in the
Ukraine—and it was with difficulty that we made do
with that. We have not only succeeded in improving this base, but have created a new coal and metallurgical base—in the East—which is the pride of our
country.
We had only one centre of the textile industry—in
the North of our country. As a result of our efforts
we shall have in the very near future two new centres
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of the textile industry—in Central Asia and Western
Siberia.
And we have not only created these new great industries, but have created them on a scale and in dimensions
that eclipse the scale and dimensions of European industry.
And as a result of all this the capitalist elements
have been completely and irrevocably ousted from industry, and socialist industry has become the sole form
of industry in the U.S.S.R.
And as a result of all this our country has been converted from an agrarian into an industrial country; for the
proportion of industrial output, as compared with agricultural output, has risen from 48 per cent of the total
in the beginning of the five-year plan period (1928)
to 70 per cent at the end of the fourth year of the fiveyear plan period (1932).
And as a result of all this we have succeeded by the
end of the fourth year of the five-year plan period in
fulfilling the total programme of industrial output,
which was drawn up for five years, to the extent of 93.7
per cent, thereby raising the volume of industrial output
to more than three times the pre-war output, and to more
than double the level of 1928. As for the programme
of output for heavy industry, we have fulfilled the fiveyear plan by 108 per cent.
It is true that we are 6 per cent short of fulfilling
the total programme of the five-year plan. But that is
due to the fact that in view of the refusal of neighbouring countries to sign pacts of non-aggression with us,
and of the complications that arose in the Far East, 54
we were obliged, for the purpose of strengthening our
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
183
defence, hastily to switch a number of factories to
the production of modern defensive means. And owing
to the necessity of going through a certain period of preparation, this switch resulted in these factories suspending production for four months, which could not but affect the fulfilment of the total programme of output for
1932, as fixed in the five-year plan. As a result of this
operation we have completely filled the gaps with regard
to the defence capacity of the country. But this was
bound to affect adversely the fulfilment of the programme
of output provided for in the five-year plan. It is beyond
any doubt that, but for this incidental circumstance, we
would almost certainly not only have fulfilled, but even
overfulfilled the total production figures of the fiveyear plan.
Finally, as a result of all this the Soviet Union has
been converted from a weak country, unprepared for
defence, into a country mighty in defence, a country
prepared for every contingency, a country capable of
producing on a mass scale all modern means of defence
and of equipping its army with them in the event of an
attack from abroad.
Such, in general terms, are the results of the fiveyear plan in four years in the sphere of industry.
Now, after all this, judge for yourselves what worth
there is in the talk in the bourgeois press about
the “failure” of the five-year plan in the sphere of industry.
And what is the position in regard to growth of
industrial output in the capitalist countries, which are
now passing through a severe crisis?
Here are the generally known official figures.
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J. V. S T A L I N
Whereas by the end of 1932 the volume of industrial
output in the U.S.S.R. rose to 334 per cent of the prewar output, the volume of industrial output in the U.S.A.
dropped during this same period to 84 per cent of the
pre-war level, in Britain to 75 per cent, in Germany to
62 per cent.
Whereas by the end of 1932 the volume of industrial
output in the U.S.S.R. rose to 219 per cent of the 1928
output, the volume of industrial output in the U.S.A.
dropped during this same period to 56 per cent, in Britain
to 80 per cent, in Germany to 55 per cent, in Poland
to 54 per cent.
What do these figures show if not that the capitalist
system of industry has failed to stand the test in competition with the Soviet system, that the Soviet system
of industry has all the advantages over the capitalist
system.
We are told: This is all very well; many new factories have been built, and the foundations for industrialisation have been laid; but it would have been far better
to have renounced the policy of industrialisation, the
policy of expanding the production of means of production, or at least to have relegated it to the background,
so as to produce more cotton fabrics, shoes, clothing and
other goods for mass consumption.
It is true that the output of goods for mass consumption
was less than the amount required, and this creates certain
difficulties. But, then, we must realise and take into
account where such a policy of relegating the task of
industrialisation to the background would have led us.
Of course, out of the 1,500 million rubles in foreign currency that we spent during this period on equipment
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
185
for our heavy industries, we could have set aside a half
for importing cotton, hides, wool, rubber, etc. Then
we would now have more cotton fabrics, shoes and clothing. But we would not have a tractor industry or an automobile industry; we would not have any thing like a big
iron and steel industry; we would not have metal for
the manufacture of machinery—and we would remain
unarmed while encircled by capitalist countries armed
with modern technique.
We would have deprived ourselves of the possibility
of supplying agriculture with tractors and agricultural machinery—consequently, we would be without
bread.
We would have deprived ourselves of the possibility
of achieving victory over the capitalist elements in our
country—consequently, we would have raised immeasurably the chances of the restoration of capitalism.
We would not have all the modern means of defence
without which it is impossible for a country to be politically independent, without which a country becomes a
target for military attacks of foreign enemies. Our position would be more or less analogous to the present position
of China, which has no heavy industry and no war industry of its own and which is being molested by anyone
who cares to do so.
In short, in that case we would have military
intervention; not pacts of non-aggression, but war, dangerous and fatal war, a sanguinary and unequal war;
for in such a war we would be almost unarmed in the face
of an enemy having all the modern means of attack at
his disposal.
This is how it works out, comrades.
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J. V. S T A L I N
It is obvious that no self-respecting government and
no self-respecting party could adopt such a fatal point
of view.
And it is precisely because the Party rejected this
anti-revolutionary line—it is precisely for that reason
that it achieved a decisive victory in the fulfilment of
the five-year plan in the sphere of industry.
In carrying out the five-year plan and organising
victory in the sphere of industrial development the Party
pursued the policy of accelerating the development of
industry to the utmost. The Party, as it were, spurred
the country on and hastened its progress.
Was the Party right in pursuing the policy of accelerating development to the utmost?
Yes, it was absolutely right.
It was necessary to urge forward a country which
was a hundred years behindhand and which was faced
with mortal danger because of its backwardness. Only
in this way was it possible to enable the country quickly
to re-equip itself on the basis of modern technique and
to emerge on to the high road at last.
Furthermore, we could not know just when the imperialists would attack the U.S.S.R. and interrupt our
work of construction; but that they might attack us at any
moment, taking advantage of the technical and economic
weakness of our country—of that there could be no doubt.
That is why the Party was obliged to spur the country on,
so as not to lose time, so as to make the utmost use of
the respite and to create in the U.S.S.R. the basis of industrialisation which is the foundation of its might. The Party
could not afford to wait and manoeuvre; it had to pursue the policy of accelerating development to the utmost.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
187
Finally, the Party had to put an end, in the shortest
possible space of time, to the weakness of the country
in the sphere of defence. The conditions prevailing at
the time, the growth of armaments in the capitalist
countries, the collapse of the idea of disarmament, the
hatred of the international bourgeoisie for the U.S.S.R.
—all this impelled the Party to accelerate the work of
strengthening the defence capacity of the country, the
basis of its independence.
But did the Party have a real possibility of implementing the policy of accelerating development to the utmost? Yes, it did. It had this possibility, not only because it succeeded in good time in rousing the country
to make rapid progress, but above all because in the work
of extensive new construction it could rely on the old or
renovated factories and plants which the workers and
engineering and technical personnel had already mastered,
and which, therefore, enabled us to achieve the utmost
acceleration of development.
That was the basis for the rapid advance of new
construction, for the enthusiasm displayed in the extensive construction work, for the rise of heroes and shock
brigaders on construction jobs, for the tempestuous rates of
development in our country in the period of the First
Five-Year Plan.
Can it be said that exactly the same policy of accelerating development to the utmost must be pursued in the
period of the Second Five-Year Plan?
No, it cannot.
Firstly, as a result of the successful fulfilment of
the five-year plan, we have, in the main, already achieved
its principal object—to place industry, transport, and
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J. V. S T A L I N
agriculture on a new, modern, technical basis. Is there
really any need, after this, to spur the country on and
urge it forward? Obviously, this is no longer necessary.
Secondly, as a result of the successful fulfilment
of the five-year plan, we have already succeeded in raising the defence capacity of the country to the proper level. Is there really any need, after this, to spur the country on and urge it forward? Obviously, this is no longer
necessary.
Finally, as a result of the successful fulfilment of
the five-year plan, we have been able to build scores
and hundreds of big new factories and works, provided
with new, complex technical equipment. This means that
in the period of the Second Five-Year Plan the bulk
of industrial output will be provided not by the old
factories, whose equipment has already been mastered,
as was the case during the period of the First Five-Year
Plan, but by the new factories, whose equipment has not
yet been mastered, but has still to be mastered. But
the mastering of the new enterprises and new equipment
presents much greater difficulties than the utilisation
of old, or renovated factories and plants whose equipment has already been mastered. It requires more time,
needed for raising the skill of the workers and engineering and technical personnel and for acquiring the new
habits in order to make full use of the new equipment. Is it
not clear after all this that, even if we desired to, we
could not in the period of the Second Five-Year Plan,
particularly during the first two or three years, pursue
a policy of accelerating development to the utmost?
That is why I think that in the second five-year
plan period we shall have to adopt less speedy rates of
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
189
increase in industrial output. In the period of the First
Five-Year Plan the average annual increase in industrial
output was 22 per cent. I think that in the Second FiveYear Plan we will have to adopt a 13-14 per cent average
annual increase in industrial output as a minimum. For
capitalist countries such a rate of increase in industrial
output is an unattainable ideal. And not only such a
rate of increase in industrial output—even a 5 per cent
average annual increase in industrial output is now
an unattainable ideal for them. But, then, they are capitalist countries. The Soviet country, with the Soviet
system of economy, is altogether different. Under our
economic system we are fully able to obtain, and we must
obtain, a 13-14 per cent annual increase of production
as a minimum.
In the period of the First Five-Year Plan we succ e e d e d i n o rg a n i s i n g e n t h u s i a s m a n d z e a l f o r n e w
construction, and achieved decisive successes. That is
very good. But now that is not enough. Now we must
supplement that with enthusiasm and zeal for mastering the new factories and the new technical equipment, with a substantial rise in the productivity of labour, with a substantial reduction of production costs.
This is the chief thing at present.
For only on this basis shall we be able, say, in the
latter half of the Second Five-Year Plan period, to make
a fresh powerful spurt both in the work of construction
and in increasing industrial output.
Finally, a few words about the rates of development
and percentages of annual increase of output. Our executives in industry pay little attention to this question. And yet it is a very interesting one. What is the
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J. V. S T A L I N
nature of the percentage increases of output, what lies
hidden behind each per cent of increase? Let us take,
for example, the year 1925, the period of restoration.
The annual increase in output was then 66 per cent.
Gross industrial output amounted to 7,700 million rubles.
The increase of 66 per cent at that time represented, in
absolute figures, a little over 3,000 million rubles.
Hence, each per cent of increase was then equal to
45,000,000 rubles. Now let us take the year 1928. In
that year the increase was 26 per cent, i.e., about a third
of that in 1925 as far as percentages are concerned. Gross
industrial output in 1928 amounted to 15,500 million
rubles. The total increase for the year amounted, in
absolute figures, to 3,280 million rubles. Hence, each
per cent of increase was then equal to 126,000,000 rubles,
i.e., it was almost three times as much as in 1925, when
we had a 66 per cent increase. Finally, let us take 1931.
In that year the increase was 22 per cent, i.e., a third of
that in 1925. Gross industrial output in 1931 amounted
to 30,800 million rubles. The total increase, in absolute
figures, amounted to a little over 5,600 million rubles.
Hence, every per cent of increase represented more than
250,000,000 rubles, i.e., six times as much as in 1925,
when we had a 66 per cent increase, and twice as much
as in 1928, when we had an increase of a little over 26
per cent.
What does all this show? It shows that in studying
the rate of increase of output we must not confine our
examination to the total percentage of increase—we
must also take into account what lies behind each per
cent of increase and what is the total amount of the annual
increase of output. For 1933, for example, we are provid-
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
191
ing for a 16 per cent increase, i.e., a quarter of that
of 1925. But this does not mean that the actual increase
of output in 1933 will also be a quarter of that of 1925,
In 1925 the increase of output in absolute figures was
a little over 3,000 million rubles and each per cent was
equal to 45,000,000 rubles. There is no reason to doubt
that a 16 per cent increase of output in 1933 will amount,
in absolute figures, to not less than 5,000 million rubles,
i.e., almost twice as much as in 1925, and each per cent
of increase will be equal to at least 320,000,000-340,000,000
rubles, i.e., will represent at least seven times as much
as each per cent of increase represented in 1925.
That is how it works out, comrades, if we examine
the question of the rates and percentages of increase in
concrete terms.
That is how matters stand with regard to the results of
the five-year plan in four years in the sphere of industry.
IV
THE RESULTS
OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN IN FOUR YEARS
IN THE SPHERE OF AGRICULTURE
Let us pass to the question of the results of the fiveyear plan in four years in the sphere of agriculture.
The five-year plan in the sphere of agriculture was
a five-year plan of collectivisation. What did the Party
proceed from in carrying out collectivisation?
The Party proceeded from the fact that in order
to consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat and
build a socialist society it was necessary, in addition
to industrialisation, to pass from small, individual peasant farming to large-scale collective agriculture equipped
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J. V. S T A L I N
with tractors and modern agricultural machinery,
as the only firm basis for the Soviet regime in the countryside.
The Party proceeded from the fact that without
collectivisation it would be impossible to lead our country on to the high road of building the economic foundations of socialism, impossible to free the vast masses
of the labouring peasantry from poverty and ignorance.
Lenin said:
“Small-scale farming provides no escape from poverty” (see
Vol. XXIV, p. 540 55).
Lenin said:
“If we continue as of old on our small farms, even as free
citizens on free land, we shall still be faced with inevitable ruin”
(see Vol. XX, p. 417 56).
Lenin said:
“Only with the help of common, artel, co-operative labour
can we escape from the impasse into which the imperialist war
has landed us” (see Vol. XXIV, p. 537 57).
Lenin said:
“We must pass to common cultivation in large model farms.
Otherwise there will be no escaping from the dislocation, from
the truly desperate situation in which Russia finds itself” (see
Vol. XX, p. 418 58 ).
Proceeding from this, Lenin arrived at the following
fundamental conclusion:
“Only if we succeed in practice in showing the peasants the
advantages of common, collective, co-operative, artel cultivation
of the soil, only if we succeed in helping the peasant by means of
co-operative, artel farming, will the working class, which holds
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
193
state power in its hands, actually prove to the peasant the correctness of its policy and actually secure the real and durable
following of the vast masses of the peasantry” (see Vol. XXIV,
p. 579 59 ).
It was from these propositions of Lenin’s that the
Party proceeded in carrying out the programme of collectivising agriculture, the programme of the fiveyear plan in the sphere of agriculture.
In this connection, the task of the five-year plan
in the sphere of agriculture was to unite the scattered
and small, individual peasant farms, which lacked the
possibility of using tractors and modern agricultural
machinery, into large collective farms, equipped with all
the modern implements of highly developed agriculture,
and to cover unoccupied land with model state farms.
The task of the five-year plan in the sphere of agriculture was to convert the U.S.S.R. from a small-peasant and backward country into one of large-scale agriculture organised on the basis of collective labour and
providing the maximum output for the market.
What has the Party achieved in carrying out the
programme of the five-year plan in four years in the
sphere of agriculture? Has it fulfilled this programme,
or has it failed?
The Party has succeeded in the course of some three
years in organising more than 200,000 collective farms
and about 5,000 state farms devoted to grain growing
and livestock raising, and at the same time it has succeeded during four years in expanding the crop area by
21,000,000 hectares.
The Party has succeeded in getting more than 60 per
cent of the peasant farms to unite into collective farms,
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J. V. S T A L I N
embracing more than 70 per cent of all the land cultivated
by peasants; this means that we have fulfilled the fiveyear plan three times over.
The Party has succeeded in making possible its
procurement of 1,200 to 1,400 million poods of
marketable grain annually, instead of the 500,000,000600,000,000 poods that were procured in the period when
individual peasant farming predominated.
The Party has succeeded in routing the kulaks as
a class, although they have not yet been dealt the final
blow; the labouring peasants have been emancipated
from kulak bondage and exploitation, and the Soviet
regime has been given a firm economic basis in the countryside, the basis of collective farming.
The Party has succeeded in converting the U.S.S.R.
from a country of small-peasant farming into a country
of the largest-scale agriculture in the world.
Such in general are the results of the five-year plan
in four years in the sphere of agriculture.
Now, after all this, judge for yourselves what worth
there is in the talk in the bourgeois press about the
“collapse” of collectivisation, about the “failure” of
the five-year plan in the sphere of agriculture.
And what is the position of agriculture in the capitalist countries, which are now passing through a severe
agricultural crisis?
Here are the generally known official data.
In the principal grain-producing countries the crop
area has been reduced by 8-10 per cent. The area under
cotton in the United States has been reduced by 15 per
cent; the area under sugar-beet in Germany and Czechoslovakia has been reduced by 22-30 per cent; the area
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
195
under flax in Lithuania and Latvia has been reduced
by 25-30 per cent.
According to the figures of the United States Department of Agriculture, the value of the gross output of
agriculture in the U.S.A. dropped from $11,000 million
in 1929 to $5,000 million in 1932. The value of the
gross output of grain in that country dropped from
$1,288 million in 1929 to $391,000,000 in 1932.
The value of the cotton crop in that country dropped
from $1,389 million in 1929 to $397,000,000 in
1932.
Do not all these facts testify to the superiority of
the Soviet system of agriculture over the capitalist
system? Do not these facts go to show that collective
farms are a more efficient form of farming than individual
and capitalist farms?
It is said that collective farms and state farms do
not always yield a profit, that they eat up an enormous
amount of funds, that there is no sense in maintaining
such enterprises, that it would be more expedient to
dissolve them, leaving only those that do yield a profit.
But only people who understand nothing about national economy, about economics, can say such things.
A few years ago more than half of our textile mills did
not yield a profit. Some of our comrades suggested at
the time that we should close down these mills. What
would have happened had we followed their advice?
We would have committed an enormous crime against
the country, against the working class; for by doing
that we would have ruined our rising industry. What
did we do at that time? We persevered for a little more
than a year, and finally succeeded in making the whole
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J. V. S T A L I N
of our textile industry yield a profit. And what about
our automobile plant at Gorky? It does not yield a profit as yet either. Would you, perhaps, have us close
it down? Or our iron and steel industry, which does not
yield a profit as yet either? Shall we close that down,
too, comrades? If one looks in that light on profitableness,
then we ought to develop to the utmost only a few
industries, those which are the most profitable, as,
for example, confectionery, flour milling, perfumery,
knitted goods, toy-making, etc. Of course, I am not
opposed to developing these industries. On the contrary,
they must be developed, for they, too, are needed for
the population. But, in the first place, they cannot
be developed without equipment and fuel, which are
provided by heavy industry. In the second place, it
is impossible to make them the basis of industrialisation. That is the point, comrades.
We cannot look on profitableness from the huckster’s
point of view, from the point of view of the immediate
present. We must approach it from the point of view
of the national economy as a whole, over a period of
several years. Only such a point of view can be called
a truly Leninist, a truly Marxist one. And this point
of view is imperative not only in regard to industry,
but also, and to an even greater extent, in regard to the
collective farms and state farms. Just think: in a matter
of three years we have created more than 200,000 collective farms and about 5,000 state farms, i.e., we have
created entirely new large enterprises which have the
same importance for agriculture as large mills and
factories for industry. Name another country which
has managed in the course of three years to create, not
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
197
205,000 new large enterprises, but even 25,000. You
will not be able to do so; for there is no such country,
and there has never been one. But we have created
205,000 new enterprises in agriculture. It appears, however, that there are people who demand that these
enterprises should immediately become profitable, and
if they do not become so immediately, they should be
destroyed and dissolved. Is it not clear that these very
strange people are envious of the laurels of Herostratus?
In saying that the collective farms and state farms
do not yield a profit, I by no means want to suggest
that none of them yield a profit. Nothing of the kind!
Everyone knows that even now we have a number
of collective farms and state farms that are highly profitable. We have thousands of collective farms and
scores of state farms which are fully profitable even
now. These collective farms and state farms are the
pride of our Party, the pride of the Soviet regime.
Of course, not all collective farms and state farms are
alike. Some collective farms and state farms are old,
some are new, and some are very young. These last
are still weak economic organisms, which have not yet
fully taken shape. They are passing through approximately the same period of organisational development
that our factories and plants passed through in 1920-21.
Naturally, the majority of these cannot yield a profit
yet. But there cannot be the slightest doubt that they
will begin to yield a profit in the course of the next
two or three years, just as our factories and mills began
to do so after 1921. To refuse them assistance and support on the grounds that at the present moment not all
of them yield a profit would be committing a grave
198
J. V. S T A L I N
crime against the working class and the peasantry.
Only enemies of the people and counter-revolutionaries
can raise a question of the collective farms and state
farms being unnecessary.
In fulfilling the five-year plan for agriculture, the
Party carried through collectivisation at an accelerated
t e m p o . Wa s t h e P a r t y r i g h t i n p u r s u i n g t h e p o l i c y
of an accelerated tempo of collectivisation? Yes, it was
absolutely right, even though certain excesses were
committed in the process. In pursuing the policy of
eliminating the kulaks as a class, and in destroying
t h e k u l a k n e st s , the Party could not stop ha lf wa y.
It had to carry this work to completion.
That is the first point.
Secondly, having tractors and agricultural machinery at its disposal, on the one hand, and taking advantage of the absence of private property in land (the
nationalisation of the land!), on the other, the Party
had every opportunity of accelerating the collectivisation of agriculture. And, indeed, it has achieved tremendous successes in this sphere; for it has fulfilled
the programme of the five-year plan of collectivisation
three times over.
Does that mean that we must pursue the policy
of an accelerated tempo of collectivisation in the period
of the Second Five-Year Plan as well? No, it does not
mean that. The point is that, in the main, we have already completed the collectivisation of the principal
regions of the U.S.S.R. Hence, we have done more in
this sphere than could have been expected. And we
have not only, in the main, completed collectivisation.
We have succeeded in getting the overwhelming major-
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
199
ity of the peasantry to regard collective farming as
the most acceptable form of farming. This is a tremendous victory, comrades. Is it worth while, after this,
being in a hurry to accelerate the tempo of collectivisation? Clearly, it is not.
Now it is no longer a question of accelerating the
tempo of collectivisation. Still less is it a question as
to whether the collective farms should exist or not—
that question has already been answered in the affirmative. The collective farms have come to stay, and
the road back to the old, individual farming is closed
for ever. The task now is to strengthen the collective
farms organisationally, to expel sabotaging elements
from them, to recruit real, tried, Bolshevik cadres for
the collective farms, and to make them really Bolshevik
collective farms.
That is now the chief thing.
That is how matters stand with regard to the fiveyear plan in four years in the sphere of agriculture.
V
THE RESULTS
OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN IN FOUR YEARS
AS REGARDS IMPROVING THE MATERIAL CONDITIONS
OF THE WORKERS AND PEASANTS
I have spoken of our successes in industry and agriculture, of the progress of industry and agriculture in
the U.S.S.R. What are the results of these successes
from the standpoint of improving the material conditions of the workers and peasants? What are the main
results of our successes in the sphere of industry and
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J. V. S T A L I N
agriculture as regards radical improvement of the material conditions of the working people?
Firstly, the fact that unemployment has been abolished and that among the workers uncertainty about
the future has been done away with.
Secondly, the fact that almost all the poor peasants
have been drawn into collective-farm development;
that, on this basis, the differentiation of the peasantry
into kulaks and poor peasants has been stopped; and
that, as a result, impoverishment and pauperism in the
countryside have been done away with.
These are tremendous achievements, comrades, achievements of which not a single bourgeois state, even the
most “democratic,” can dream.
In our country, in the U.S.S.R., the workers have
long for gotten unemployment. Some three years ago
we had about 1,500,000 unemployed. It is already two
years now since unemployment was completely abolished. And in these two years the workers have already
forgotten about unemployment, about its burden and
its horrors. Look at the capitalist countries: what horrors result there from unemployment! There are now
no less than 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 unemployed in
those countries. Who are these people? Usually it is
said of them that they are “down and out.”
Every day they try to get work, seek work, are prepared to accept almost any conditions of work, but
they are not given work, because they are “superfluous.”
And this is taking place at a time when vast quantities
of goods and produce are being wasted to satisfy the
caprices of the favourites of fortune, the scions of the
capitalists and landlords.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
201
The unemployed are refused food because they have
no money with which to pay for it; they are refused
shelter be cause they have no money with which to
pay rent. How and where do they live? They live on
the miserable crumbs from the rich man’s table; by
raking refuse bins, where they find decayed scraps of
food; they live in the slums of big cities, and more often
in hovels outside the towns, hastily put up by the unemployed out of packing cases and the bark of trees. But
this is not all. It is not only the unemployed who suffer
as a result of unemployment. The employed workers,
too, suffer as a result of it. They suffer because the presence of a large number of unemployed makes their position in industry insecure, makes them uncertain about
their future. Today they are employed, but they are
not sure that when they wake up tomorrow they will
not find themselves discharged.
One of the principal achievements of the five-year
plan in four years is that we have abolished unemployment and have saved the workers of the U.S.S.R. from
its horrors.
The same thing must be said of the peasants. They,
too, have forgotten about the differentiation of the peasants into kulaks and poor peasants, about the exploitation of the poor peasants by the kulaks, about the
ruin which every year caused hundreds of thousands
and millions of poor peasants to become destitute. Three
or four years ago the poor peasants constituted not
less than 30 per cent of the total peasant population
in our country. They numbered about 20,000,000. And
still earlier, in the period before the October Revolution, the poor peasants constituted not less than 60 per
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cent of the peasant population. Who were the poor
peasants? They were people who usually lacked either
seed, or horses, or implements, or all of these, for carrying on their husbandry. The poor peasants were people who lived in a state of semi-starvation and, as a
rule, were in bondage to the kulaks—and in the old
days, both to the kulaks and to the landlords. Not at
all long ago more than 2,000,000 poor peasants used
to go south—to the North Caucasus and the Ukraine—
every year to hire themselves out to the kulaks—and
still earlier, to the kulaks and landlords. Still larger
numbers used to come every year to the factory gates
and swell the ranks of the unemployed. And it was
not only the poor peasants who found themselves in
this unenviable position. A good half of the middle peasants lived in the same state of poverty and privation
as the poor peasants. All that is already forgotten by
the peasants.
What has the five-year plan in four years given the
poor peasants and the lower strata of the middle peasants? It has undermined and smashed the kulaks as
a class, liberating the poor peasants and a good half of
the middle peasants from kulak bondage. It has brought
them into the collective farms and placed them in a
secure position. It has thus eliminated the possibility
of the differentiation of the peasantry into exploiters—
kulaks—and exploited—poor peasants, and abolished
destitution in the countryside. It has raised the poor
peasants and the lower strata of the middle peasants
to a position of security in the collective farms, and
has there by put a stop to the process of ruination and
impoverishment of the peasantry. Now it no longer
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203
happens in our country that millions of peasants leave
their homes every year to seek work in distant areas.
In order to attract a peasant to go to work outside his
own collective farm it is now necessary to sign a contract with the collective farm and, in addition, to pay
the collective farmer his railway fare. Now it no longer
happens in our country that hundreds of thousands and
millions of peasants are ruined and hang around the
gates of factories and mills. That is what used to happen;
but that was long ago. Now the peasant is in a position
of security, a member of a collective farm which has at
its disposal tractors, agricultural machinery, seed funds,
reserve funds, etc., etc.
That is what the five-year plan has given to the poor
peasants and to the lower strata of the middle peasants.
That is the essence of the principal achievements
of the five-year plan in improving the material conditions of the workers and peasants.
As a result of these principal achievements in improving the material conditions of the workers and
peasants, we have brought about during the period
of the First Five-Year Plan:
a) a doubling of the number of workers and other
employees in large-scale industry compared with 1928,
which represents an overfulfilment of the five-year
plan by 57 per cent;
b) an increase in the national income—hence, an
increase in the incomes of the workers and peasants—
to 45,100 million rubles in 1932, which represents an
increase of 85 per cent over 1928;
c) an increase in the average annual wages of workers and other employees in large-scale industry by
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J. V. S T A L I N
67 per cent compared with 1928, which represents
an overfulfilment of the five-year plan by 18 per
cent;
d) an increase in the social insurance fund by 292 per
cent compared with 1928 (4,120 million rubles in 1932,
as against 1,050 million rubles in 1928), which represents an overfulfilment of the five-year plan by 111
per cent;
e) an increase in public catering facilities, now
covering more than 70 per cent of the workers employed
in the decisive industries, which represents an overfulfilment of the five-year plan by 500 per cent.
Of course, we have not yet reached the point where
we can fully satisfy the material requirements of the
workers and peasants, and it is hardly likely that we
shall reach it within the next few years. But we have
unquestionably attained a position where the material
conditions of the workers and peasants are improving
from year to year. The only ones who can have any
doubts on this score are the sworn enemies of the Soviet
regime, or, perhaps, certain representatives of the bourgeois press, including some of the Moscow correspondents of that press, who hardly know any more about
the economy of nations and the condition of the working people than, say, the Emperor of Abyssinia knows
about higher mathematics.
And what is the position in regard to the material
conditions of the workers and peasants in capitalist
countries?
Here are the official figures.
The number of unemployed in the capitalist count r i e s h a s i n c r e a s e d c a t a s t r o p h i c a l l y. I n t h e U n i t e d
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
205
States, according to official figures, the number of employed workers in the manufacturing industries alone
dropped from 8,500,000 in 1928 to 5,500,000 in 1932;
and according to the figures of the American Federat i o n o f L a b o u r, t h e n u m b e r o f u n e m p l o y e d i n t h e
United States, in all industries, at the end of 1932, was
11,000,000. In Britain, according to official figures,
the number of unemployed increased from 1,290,000
in 1928 to 2,800,000 in 1932. In Germany, according
to official figures, the number of unemployed increased
from 1,376,000 in 1928 to 5,500,000 in 1932. This is
the picture that is observed in all the capitalist countries. Moreover, official statistics as a rule minimise
the number of unemployed, the total number of whom
in the capitalist countries ranges from 35,000,000 to
40,000,000.
The wages of the workers are being systematically
reduced. According to official figures, average monthly
wages in the United States have been reduced by 35 per
cent compared with 1928. In Britain wages have been
reduced by 15 per cent in the same period, and in Germany by as much as 50 per cent. According to the estimates of the American Federation of Labour, the American workers lost more than $35,000 million as a result of wage cuts in 1930-31.
The workers’ insurance funds in Britain and Germany, small as they were, have been considerably diminished. In the United States and in France unemployment insurance does not exist, or hardly exists
at all, and, as a consequence, the number of homeless
workers and waifs is growing enormously, particularly in the United States.
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The position is no better as regards the condition
of the masses of the peasantry in the capitalist countries, where the agricultural crisis is utterly undermining peasant farming and is forcing millions of
ruined peasants and farmers to go begging.
Such are the results of the five-year plan in four
years in regard to improving the material conditions of
the working people of the U.S.S.R.
VI
THE RESULTS OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN
IN FOUR YEARS AS REGARDS TRADE TURNOVER
BETWEEN TOWN AND COUNTRY
Let us pass now to the question of the results of the
five-year plan in four years in regard to the growth
of trade turnover between town and country.
The tremendous growth of the output of industry
and agriculture, the growth of the marketable surplus
both in industry and in agriculture, and, finally, the
growth of the requirements of the workers and peasants—all this could not but lead, and indeed has led,
to a revival and expansion of trade turnover between
town and country.
The bond based on production is the fundamental
form of the bond between town and country. But the
bond based on production is not enough by itself. It
must be supplemented by the bond based on trade in
order that the ties between town and country may be
durable and unseverable. This can be achieved only
by developing Soviet trade. It would be wrong to think
that Soviet trade can be developed only along one channel, for example, the co-operative societies. In order
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
207
to develop Soviet trade all channels must be used: the
network of co-operatives, the state trading network,
and collective-farm trade.
Some comrades think that the development of Soviet trade, and particularly the development of collective-farm trade, is a reversion to the first stage of NEP.
That is absolutely wrong.
There is a fundamental difference between Soviet
trade, including collective-farm trade, and the trade
carried on in the first stage of NEP.
In the first stage of NEP we permitted a revival of
capitalism, permitted private trade, permitted the
“activities” of private traders, capitalists, speculators.
That was more or less free trade, restricted only by
the regulating role of the state. At that time the private capitalist sector had a fairly large place in the
trade turnover of the country. That is apart from the
fact that we did not then have the developed industry
that we have now, nor did we have collective farms
and state farms working according to plan and placing
at the disposal of the state huge reserves of agricultural
produce and urban manufactures.
Can it be said that this is the position now? Of
course not.
In the first place, Soviet trade cannot be put on
a par with trade in the first stage of NEP, even though
the latter was regulated by the state. While trade in
the first stage of NEP permitted a revival of capitalism and the functioning of the private capitalist sector
in trade turnover, Soviet trade proceeds from the negation, the absence, of both the one and the other. What
is Soviet trade? Soviet trade is trade without capital-
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J. V. S T A L I N
ists, big or small; it is trade without speculators, big
or small. It is a special type of trade, which has never
existed in history before, and which is practised only
by us, the Bolsheviks, under the conditions of Soviet
development.
Secondly, we now have a fairly widely developed
state industry and a whole system of collective farms
and state farms, which provide the state with huge
reserves of agricultural and manufactured goods for
the development of Soviet trade. This did not exist,
and could not have existed, under the conditions of the
first stage of NEP.
Thirdly, we have succeeded in the recent period in
completely expelling private traders, merchants and
middlemen of all kinds from the sphere of trade. Of
course, this does not mean that private traders and
profiteers may not, in accordance with the law of atavism, reappear in the sphere of trade and take advantage of the most favourable field for them in this respect,
namely, collective-farm trade. Moreover, collective farmers themselves are sometimes not averse to engaging
in speculation, which does not do them honour, of
course. But to combat these unhealthy activities we have
the recently issued Soviet law on measures for the prevention of speculation and the punishment of speculators. 60 You know, of course, that this law does not
err on the side of leniency. You will understand, of
course, that such a law did not exist, and could not
have existed, under the conditions of the first stage
of NEP.
Thus you see that anyone who in spite of these facts
talks of a reversion to the trade of the first stage of
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
209
NEP, shows that he understands nothing, absolutely
nothing, about our Soviet economy.
We are told that it is impossible to develop trade,
even if it is Soviet trade, without a sound money system
and a sound currency; that we must first of all achieve
the recovery of our money system and our Soviet currency, which, it is alleged, is worthless. That is what
the economists in capitalist countries tell us. I think
that those worthy economists understand no more about
political economy than, say, the Archbishop of Canterbury understands about anti-religious propaganda.
How can it be asserted that our Soviet currency is worthless? Is it not a fact that with this currency we built
Magnitostroi, Dnieprostroi, Kuznetskstroi, the Stalingrad and Kharkov tractor works, the Gorky and Moscow
automobile works, hundreds of thousands of collective
farms, and thousands of state farms? Do those gentlemen think that all these enterprises have been built
out of straw or clay, and not out of real materials, having a definite value? What is it that ensures the stability of Soviet currency—if we have in mind, of course,
the organised market, which is of decisive importance
in our trade turnover, and not the unorganised market,
which is only of subordinate importance? Of course,
it is not the gold reserve alone. The stability of Soviet
currency is ensured, first of all, by the vast quantity
of goods held by the state and put into commodity
circulation at stable prices. What economist can deny
that such a guarantee, which exists only in the U.S.S.R.,
is a more real guarantee of the stability of the currency
than any gold reserve? Will the economists in capitalist countries ever understand that they are hopelessly
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J. V. S T A L I N
muddled in their theory of a gold reserve as the “sole”
guarantee of the stability of the currency?
That is the position in regard to the questions concerning the growth of Soviet trade.
What have we achieved as a result of carrying out
the five-year plan as regards the expansion of Soviet
trade?
As a result of the five-year plan we have:
a) an increase in the output of light industry to
187 per cent of the output in 1928;
b) an increase in retail co-operative and state trade
turnover, which, calculated in prices of 1932, now
amounts to 39,600 million rubles, i.e., an increase in
the volume of goods in retail trade to 175 per cent of
the 1928 figure;
c) an increase of the state and co-operative network
by 158,000 shops and stores over the 1929 figure;
d) the continually increasing development of collective farm trade and purchases of agricultural produce by various state and co-operative organisations.
Such are the facts.
An altogether different picture is presented by the
condition of internal trade in the capitalist countries,
where the crisis has resulted in a catastrophic drop in
trade, in the mass closing down of enterprises and the
ruin of small and medium shopkeepers, in the bankruptcy
of large trading firms, and the overstocking of trading
enterprises while the purchasing power of the masses
of the working people continues to decline.
Such are the results of the five-year plan in four
years as regards the development of trade turnover.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
211
VII
THE RESULTS
OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN IN FOUR YEARS
IN THE SPHERE OF THE STRUGGLE
AGAINST THE REMNANTS OF THE HOSTILE CLASSES
As a result of the fulfilment of the five-year plan
in regard to industry, agriculture and trade, we have
established the principle of socialism in all spheres of
the national economy and have expelled the capitalist
elements from them.
What should this have led to in relation to the capitalist elements; and what has it actually led to?
It has led to this: the last remnants of the moribund
classes—the private manufacturers and their servitors,
the private traders and their henchmen, the former
nobles and priests the kulaks and kulak agents, the
former Whiteguard officers and police officials, policemen and gendarmes, all sorts of bourgeois intellectuals of a chauvinist type, and all other anti-Soviet
elements—have been thrown out of their groove.
Thrown out of their groove, and scattered over the
whole face of the U.S.S.R., these “have-beens” have
wormed their way into our plants and factories, into
our government offices and trading organisations, into
our railway and water transport enterprises, and, princ i p a l l y, i n t o t h e c o l l e c t i v e f a r m s a n d s t a t e f a r m s .
They have crept into these places and taken cover there,
donning the mask of “workers” and “peasants,” and
some of them have even managed to worm their way
into the Party.
What did they carry with them into these places?
Of course, they carried with them a feeling of hatred
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towards the Soviet regime, a feeling of burning enmity
towards the new forms of economy, life and culture.
These gentlemen are no longer able to launch a frontal attack against the Soviet regime. They and their
classes made such attacks several times, but they were
routed and dispersed. Hence, the only thing left them
is to do mischief and harm to the workers, to the collective farmers, to the Soviet regime and to the Party.
And they are doing as much mischief as they can, acting
on the sly. They set fire to warehouses and wreck machinery. They organise sabotage. They organise wrecking
activities in the collective farms and state farms, and
some of them, including certain professors, go to such
lengths in their passion for wrecking as to inject
plague and anthrax germs into the cattle on the collective farms and state farms, help to spread meningitis
among horses, etc.
But that is not the main thing. The main thing in
the “work” of these “have-beens” is that they organise
mass theft and plundering of state property, co-operative property and collective-farm property. Theft
and plundering in the factories and plants, theft and
plundering of railway freight, theft and plundering
in warehouses and trading enterprises—particularly
theft and plundering in the state farms and collective
farms—such is the main form of the “work” of these
“have-beens.” Their class instinct, as it were, tells
them that the basis of Soviet economy is public property, and that it is precisely this basis that must be
shaken in order to injure the Soviet regime—and they
try indeed to shake the foundations of public ownership, by organising mass theft and plundering.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
213
In order to organise plundering they play on the
private property habits and survivals among the collective farmers, the individual farmers of yesterday
who are now members of collective farms. You, as
Marxists, should know that in its development man’s
consciousness lags behind his actual position. The position of the members of collective farms is that they are
no longer individual farmers, but collectivists; but
their consciousness is as yet still the old one—that of
private property owners. And so, the “have-beens” from
the ranks of the exploiting classes play on the privateproperty habits of the collective farmers in order to
organise the plundering of public wealth and thus shake
the foundation of the Soviet system, viz., public property.
Many of our comrades look complacently upon such
phenomena and fail to understand the meaning and
significance of this mass theft and plundering. They
remain blind to these facts and take the view that “there
is nothing particular in it.” But these comrades are
profoundly mistaken. The basis of our system is public property, just as private property is the basis of
capitalism. If the capitalists proclaimed private property sacred and inviolable when they were consolidating the capitalist system, all the more reason why
we Communists should proclaim public property sacred
and in violable in order to consolidate the new socialist forms of economy in all spheres of production and
trade. To permit theft and plundering of public property—no matter whether it is state property or co-operative or collective-farm property—and to ignore such
counter-revolutionary outrages means to aid and abet
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J. V. S T A L I N
the undermining of the Soviet system, which rests on
public property as its basis. It was on these grounds
that our Soviet Government passed the recent law
for the protection of public property. 61 This enactment
is the basis of revolutionary law at the present time.
And it is the prime duty of every Communist, of every
worker, and of every collective farmer strictly to carry
out this law.
It is said that revolutionary law at the present time
does not differ in any way from revolutionary law in
the first period of NEP, that revolutionary law at the
present time is a reversion to revolutionary law of the
first period of NEP. That is absolutely wrong. The
sharp edge of revolutionary law in the first period of NEP
was directed mainly against the excesses of war communism, against “illegal” confiscation and imposts.
It guaranteed the security of the property of the private owner, of the individual peasant and of the capitalist, provided they strictly observed the Soviet laws.
The position in regard to revolutionary law at the present
time is entirely different. The sharp edge of revolutionary law at the present time is directed, not against
the excesses of war communism, which have long
ceased to exist, but against thieves and wreckers in
public economy, against rowdies and pilferers of public
property. The main concern of revolutionary law at
the present time is, consequently, the protection of
public property, and not something else.
That is why it is one of the fundamental tasks of
the Party to fight to protect public property, to fight
with all the measures and all the means placed at our
command by our Soviet laws.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
215
A strong and powerful dictatorship of the proletariat—that is what we need now in order to scatter to
the winds the last remnants of the dying classes and to
frustrate their thieving designs.
Some comrades have interpreted the thesis about
the abolition of classes, the creation of a classless society, and the withering away of the state as a justification of laziness and complacency, a justification of the
counter-revolutionary theory of the extinction of the class
struggle and the weakening of the state power. Needless
to say, such people can not have anything in common
with our Party. They are either degenerates or doubledealers, and must be driven out of the Party. The abolition of classes is not achieved by the extinction of the
class struggle, but by its intensification. The state
will wither away, not as a result of weakening the state
power, but as a result of strengthening it to the utmost,
which is necessary for finally crushing the remnants
of the dying classes and for organising defence against
the capitalist encirclement that is far from having
been done away with as yet, and will not soon be done
away with.
As a result of fulfilling the five-year plan we have
succeeded in finally ejecting the last remnants of the
hostile classes from their positions in production; we have
routed the kulaks and have prepared the ground for
their elimination. Such are the results of the five-year
plan in the sphere of the struggle against the last detachments of the bourgeoisie. But that is not enough.
The task is to eject these “have-beens” from our own
enterprises and institutions and make them harmless
for good and all.
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J. V. S T A L I N
It cannot be said that these “have-beens” can alter
anything in the present position of the U.S.S.R. by
their wrecking and thieving machinations. They are
too weak and impotent to withstand the measures adopted by the Soviet Government. But if our comrades do
not arm themselves with revolutionary vigilance and
do not actually put an end to the smug, philistine attitude towards cases of theft and plundering of public property, these “have-beens” may do considerable mischief.
We must bear in mind that the growth of the power
of the Soviet state will intensify the resistance of the
last remnants of the dying classes. It is precisely because they are dying and their days are numbered that
they will go on from one form of attack to another,
sharper form, appealing to the backward sections of
the population and mobilising them against the Soviet
regime. There is no mischief and slander which these
“have-beens” will not resort to against the Soviet regime and around which they will not try to rally the
backward elements. This may provide the soil for a
revival of the activities of the defeated groups of the
old counter-revolutionary parties: the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Mensheviks, and the bourgeois nationalists of the central and border regions, it may also
provide the soil for a revival of the activities of the
fragments of counter-revolutionary elements among the
Trotskyites and Right deviators. Of course, there is
nothing terrible in this. But we must bear all this in
mind if we want to have done with these elements
quickly and without particular sacrifice.
That is why revolutionary vigilance is the quality
that Bolsheviks especially need at the present time.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
217
VIII
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
Such are the main results of the implementation of
the five-year plan as regards industry and agriculture,
as regards improving the conditions of life of the working people and developing trade turnover, as regards
consolidating the Soviet regime and developing the
class struggle against the remnants and survivals of
the dying classes.
Such are the successes and gains of the Soviet regime during the past four years.
It would be a mistake to think that since these
successes have been attained everything is as it should
be. Of course, not everything with us is yet as it should
be. There are plenty of shortcomings and mistakes in
our work. Inefficiency and confusion are still to be
met with in our practical work. Unfortunately, I cannot
now stop to deal with shortcomings and mistakes, as
the limits of the report I was instructed to make do
not give me sufficient scope for this. But that is not
the point just now. The point is that, notwithstanding
shortcomings and mistakes, the existence of which none
of us denies, we have achieved such important successes
as to evoke admiration among the working class all
over the world, we have achieved a victory that is
truly of world-wide historic significance.
What could and actually did play the chief part
in bringing it about that, despite mistakes and shortcomings, the Party has nevertheless achieved decisive
successes in carrying out the five-year plan in four
years?
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J. V. S T A L I N
What are the main forces that have ensured us this
historic victory in spite of everything?
They are, first and foremost, the activity and devotion, the enthusiasm and initiative of the vast masses
of the workers and collective farmers, who, together
with the engineering and technical forces, displayed
colossal energy in developing socialist emulation and
shock-brigade work. There can be no doubt that without
this we could not have achieved our goal, we could not
have advanced a single step.
Secondly, the firm leadership of the Party and of the
Government, who urged the masses forward and overcame all difficulties in the way to the goal.
And, lastly, the special merits and advantages of
the Soviet system of economy, which has within it
the colossal potentialities necessary for overcoming
difficulties.
Such are the three main forces that determined the
historic victory of the U.S.S.R.
General conclusions:
1. The results of the five-year plan have refuted the
assertion of the bourgeois and Social-Democratic leaders that the five-year plan was a fantasy, delirium,
an unrealisable dream. The results of the five-year plan
show that the five-year plan has already been fulfilled.
2. The results of the five-year plan have shattered
the well-known bourgeois “article of faith” that the
working class is incapable of building something new,
that it is capable only of destroying the old. The results
of the five-year plan have shown that the working class
is just as well able to build the new as to destroy the
old.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
219
3. The results of the five-year plan have shattered
the thesis of the Social-Democrats that it is impossible
to build socialism in one country taken separately.
The results of the five-year plan have shown that it
is quite possible to build a socialist society in one
country; for the economic foundations of such a society
have already been laid in the U.S.S.R.
4. The results of the five-year plan have refuted the
assertion of bourgeois economists that the capitalist
system of economy is the best of all systems, that
every other system of economy is unstable and incapable
of standing the test of the difficulties of economic development. The results of the five-year plan have shown
that the capitalist system of economy is bankrupt and
unstable; that it has outlived its day and must give
way to another, a higher, Soviet, socialist system of
economy; that the only system of economy that has no
fear of crises and is able to overcome the difficulties
which capitalism cannot solve, is the Soviet system
of economy.
5. Finally, the results of the five-year plan have
shown that the Communist Party is invincible, if it
knows its goal, and if it is not afraid of difficulties.
(Stormy and prolonged applause, increasing to an ovation. All rise to greet Comrade Stalin.)
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
Speech Delivered on January 11, 1933
Comrades, I think that the previous speakers have correctly described the state of Party work in the countryside, its defects and its merits—particularly its defects.
Nevertheless, it seems to me that they have failed to
mention the most important thing about the defects
of our work in the countryside; they have not disclosed
the roots of these defects. And yet this aspect is of the
greatest interest to us. Permit me, therefore, to express
my opinion on the defects of our work in the countryside, to express it with all the straightforwardness characteristic of the Bolsheviks.
What was the main defect in our work in the countryside during the past year, 1932?
The main defect was that our grain procurements
in 1932 were accompanied by greater difficulties than
in the previous year, in 1931.
This was by no means due to the bad state of the
harvest; for in 1932 our harvest was not worse, but better
than in the preceding year. No one can deny that the
total amount of grain harvested in 1932 was larger than
in 1931, when the drought in five of the principal areas
of the north-eastern part of the U.S.S.R. considerably
reduced the country’s grain output. Of course, in 1932,
too, we suffered certain losses of crops, as a consequence
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
221
of unfavourable climatic conditions in the Kuban and
Terek regions, and also in certain districts of the Ukraine.
But there cannot be any doubt that these losses do not
amount to half those we suffered in 1931 as a result of
the drought in the north-eastern areas of the U.S.S.R.
Hence, in 1932 we had more grain in the country than
in 1931. And yet, despite this circumstance, our grain
procurements were accompanied by greater difficulties
in 1932 than in the previous year.
What was the matter? What are the reasons for
this defect in our work? How is this disparity to be
explained?
1) It is to be explained, in the first place, by the fact
that our comrades in the localities, our Party workers
in the countryside, failed to take into account the new
situation created in the countryside by the authorisation of collective-farm trade in grain. And precisely
because they failed to take the new situation into consideration, precisely for that reason, they were unable
to reorganise their work along new lines to fit in with
the new situation. So long as there was no collectivefarm trade in grain, so long as there were not two prices
for grain—the state price and the market price—the
situation in the countryside took one form. When collective-farm trade in grain was authorised, the situation
was bound to change sharply, because the authorisation of collective-farm trade implies the legalisation
of a market price for grain higher than the established
state price. There is no need to prove that this circumstance was bound to give rise among the peasants to
a certain reluctance to deliver their grain to the state.
The peasant calculated as follows: “Collective-farm
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J. V. S T A L I N
trade in grain has been authorised; market prices have
been legalised; in the market I can obtain more for
a given quantity of grain than if I deliver it to the state—
hence, if I am not a fool, I must hold on to my grain,
deliver less to the state, leave more grain for collectivefarm trade, and in this way get more for the same quantity of grain sold.”
It is the simplest and most natural logic!
But the unfortunate thing is that our Party workers
in the countryside, at all events many of them, failed to
understand this simple and natural thing. In order to
prevent disruption of the Soviet Government’s assignments, the Communists in this new situation should
have done everything to increase and speed up grain
procurements from the very first days of the harvest,
as early as July 1932. That was what the situation demanded. But what did they actually do? Instead of
speeding up grain procurements, they began to speed
up the formation of all sorts of funds in the collective
farms, thus encouraging the grain producers in their
reluctance to fulfil their obligations to the state. Failing to understand the new situation, they began to
fear, not that the reluctance of the peasants to deliver
grain might impede grain procurements, but that it
would not occur to the peasants to withhold some of
the grain in order, later on, to place it on the market
by way of collective farm trade, and that perchance they
would go ahead and deliver all their grain to the elevators.
In other words, our Communists in the countryside,
the majority of them at all events, grasped only the
positive aspect of collective-farm trade; they under-
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stood and assimilated its positive aspect, but absolutely
failed to understand and assimilate the negative aspects
of collective-farm trade—they failed to understand
that the negative aspects of collective farm trade could
cause great harm to the state if they, i.e., the Communists, did not begin to speed up the grain procurement
campaign to the utmost from the very first days of the
harvest.
And this mistake was committed not only by Party
workers in the collective farms. It was committed also
by directors of state farms, who criminally held up
grain that ought to have been delivered to the state
and began to sell it on the side at a higher price.
Did the Council of People’s Commissars and the
Central Committee take into consideration the new
situation that had arisen as a result of collective-farm
trade in grain when they issued their decision on the
development of collective-farm trade? 62 Yes, they did
take it into consideration. In that decision it is plainly
stated that collective-farm trade in grain may begin
only after the plan for grain procurements has been wholly
and entirely fulfilled, and after the seed has been stored.
It is plainly stated in the decision that only after grain
procurements have been completed and the seed stored—
approximately by January 15, 1933—that only after
these conditions have been fulfilled may collectivefarm trade in grain begin. By this decision the Council
of People’s Commissars and the Central Committee said,
as it were, to our officials in the countryside: Do not
allow your attention to be overshadowed by worries
about all sorts of funds and reserves; do not be diverted from the main task; develop the grain-procurement
224
J. V. S T A L I N
campaign from the very first days of the harvest, and
speed it up; for the first commandment is—fulfil the
plan for grain procurements; the second commandment
is—get the seed stored; and only after these conditions
have been fulfilled may collective-farm trade in grain
be begun and developed.
Perhaps the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars made
a mistake in not emphasising this aspect of the matter
strongly enough and in not warning our officials in the
countryside loudly enough about the dangers latent
in collective-farm trade. But there can be no doubt
whatever that they did warn against these dangers,
and uttered the warning sufficiently clearly. It must
be admitted that the Central Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars somewhat overestimated
the Leninist training and insight of our officials in the
localities, not only officials in the districts, but also
in a number of regions.
Perhaps collective-farm trade in grain should not
have been authorised? Perhaps it was a mistake, particularly if we bear in mind that collective-farm trade
has not only positive aspects, but also certain negative
aspects?
No, it was not a mistake. No revolutionary measure
can be guaranteed against having certain negative aspects if it is incorrectly carried out. The same must
be said of collective farm trade in grain. Collectivefarm trade is necessary and advantageous both to the
countryside and to the town, both to the working class
and to the peasantry. And precisely because it is advantageous it had to be introduced.
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
225
What considerations were the Council of People’s
Commissars and the Central Committee guided by when
they introduced collective-farm trade in grain?
First of all, by the consideration that this would
widen the basis of trade turnover between town and
country, and thus improve the supply of agricultural
produce to the workers and of urban manufactures to
the peasants. There can be no doubt that state and cooperative trade alone are not sufficient. These channels
of trade turnover had to be supplemented by a new channel—collective-farm trade. And we have supplemented
them by introducing collective-farm trade.
Further, they were guided by the consideration that
collective-farm trade in grain would give the collective
farmers an additional source of income and strengthen
their economic position.
Finally, they were guided by the consideration that
the introduction of collective-farm trade would give
the peasants a fresh stimulus for improving the work
of the collective farms as regards both sowing and harvesting.
As you know, all these considerations of the Council
of People’s Commissars and the Central Committee have
been fully confirmed by the recent facts about the life
of the collective farms. The accelerated process of consolidation of the collective farms, the cessation of withdrawals from the collective farms, the growing eagerness of individual peasants to join the collective farms,
the tendency of the collective farmers to show greater
discrimination in accepting new members—all this and
much of a like character shows beyond a doubt that
collective-farm trade not only has not weakened, but,
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J. V. S T A L I N
on the contrary, has strengthened and consolidated the
position of the collective farms.
Hence, the defects in our work in the countryside
are not to be explained by collective-farm trade, but
by the fact that it is not always properly conducted, by
inability to take the new situation into account, by inability to reorganise our ranks to cope with the new
situation created by the authorisation of collectivefarm trade in grain.
2) The second reason for the defects in our work in
the countryside is that our comrades in the localities—
and not only those comrades—have failed to understand
the change that has taken place in the conditions of
our work in the countryside as a result of the predominant position acquired by the collective farms in the
principal grain-growing areas. We all rejoice at the fact
that the collective form of farming has become the predominant form in our grain areas. But not all of us realise that this circumstance does not diminish but increases our cares and responsibilities in regard to the
development of agriculture. Many think that once we
have achieved, say, 70 or 80 per cent collectivisation
in a given district, or in a given region, we have got
all we need, and can now let things take their natural
course, let them proceed automatically, on the assumption that collectivisation will do its work itself and
will itself raise agriculture to a higher level. But this
is a profound delusion, comrades. As a matter of fact,
the transition to collective farming as the predominant
form of farming does not diminish but increases our
cares in regard to agriculture, does not diminish but
increases the leading role of the Communists in raising
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
227
agriculture to a higher level. Letting things take their
own course is now more dangerous than ever for the development of agriculture. Letting things take their
own course may now ruin everything.
As long as the individual peasant predominated in
the countryside the Party could confine its intervention
in the development of agriculture to certain acts of
assistance, advice or warning. At that time the individual peasant had to take care of his farm himself;
for he had no one upon whom to throw the responsibility for his farm, which was merely his own personal
farm, and he had no one to rely upon except himself.
At that time the individual peasant himself had to
take care of the sowing and harvesting, and all the processes of agricultural labour in general, if he did not
want to be left without bread and fall a victim to starvation. With the transition to collective farming the
situation has changed materially. The collective farm
is not the enterprise of any one individual. In fact, the
collective farmers now say: “The collective farm is
mine and not mine; it belongs to me, but it also belongs
to Ivan, Philip, Mikhail and the other members of the
collective farm; the collective farm is common property.” Now, he, the collective farmer—the individual
peasant of yesterday, who is the collectivist of today—
can shift the responsibility to and rely upon other members of the collective farm, knowing that the collective
farm will not leave him without bread. That is why the
collective farmer now has fewer cares than when he was
on his individual farm; for the cares and responsibility
for the enterprise are now shared by all the collective
farmers.
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J. V. S T A L I N
What, then, follows from this? It follows from this that
the prime responsibility for conducting the farm has now
been transferred from the individual peasants to the
leadership of the collective farm, to the leading group of
the collective farm. Now it is not to themselves that the
peasants put the demand for care for the farm and its rational management, but to the leadership of the collective farm; or, more correctly, not so much to themselves
as to the leadership of the collective farm. And what
does this mean? It means that the Party can no longer
confine itself to individual acts of intervention in the
process of agricultural development. It must now take
over the direction of the collective farms, assume responsibility for the work, and help the collective farmers
to develop their farms on the basis of science and technology.
But that is not all. A collective farm is a large enterprise. And a large enterprise cannot be managed without
a plan. A large agricultural enterprise embracing hundreds and sometimes thousands of households can be
run only on the basis of planned management. Without
that it is bound to go to rack and ruin. There you have
yet another new condition arising from the collectivefarm system and radically different from the conditions
under which individual small farms are run. Can we
leave the conduct of such an enterprise to the so-called
natural course of things, to allow it to proceed automatically? Clearly, we cannot. To conduct such an enterprise, the collective farm must have a certain minimum
number of people with at least some education, people
who are capable of planning the business and running
it in an organised manner. Naturally, without system-
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
229
atic intervention on the part of the Soviet Government in the work of collective-farm development, without its systematic aid, such an enterprise cannot be
put into proper shape.
And what follows from this? It follows from this that
the collective-farm system does not diminish but increases the cares and responsibility of the Party and of
the Government in regard to the development of agriculture. It follows from this that if the Party desires to
direct the collective-farm movement, it must enter into
all the details of collective-farm life and collectivefarm management. It follows from this that the Party
must not diminish but multiply its contacts with the
collective farms; that it must know all that is going
on in the collective farms, in order to render them timely aid and to avert the dangers that threaten them.
But what do we see in actual practice? In actual
practice we see that quite a number of district and regional Party organisations are divorced from the life
of the collective farms and from their requirements.
People sit in offices, where they complacently indulge
in pen-pushing, and fail to see that the development of
the collective farms is going on independently of bureaucratic offices. In some cases this divorce from the collective-farms has gone so far that certain members of
territorial Party organisations have learned of what
was going on in the collective farms in their regions,
n o t f r o m t h e r e s p e c t i v e d i s t r i c t o rg a n i s a t i o n s , b u t
from members of the Central Committee in Moscow.
That is sad but true, comrades. The transition from
individual farming to collective farming should have
led to stronger Communist leadership in the country-
230
J. V. S T A L I N
side. In fact, however, it has led in a number of cases
to Communists resting on their laurels, to their boasting
of high percentages of collectivisation, while leaving
t h i n g s t o p r o c e e d a u t o m a t i c a l l y, l e t t i n g t h e m t a k e
their natural course. The problem of planned leadership
of collective farms should have led to an intensification
of Communist leadership in the collective farms. In
fact, however, what has happened in a number of cases
is that the Communists have been quite out of it, and the
collective farms have been run by former White officers,
former Petlyura-ists, and enemies of the workers and
peasants generally.
That is the position in regard to the second reason
for the defects in our work in the countryside.
3) The third reason for the defects in our work in
the countryside is that many of our comrades overestimated the collective farms as a new form of economy,
overestimated them and converted them into an icon.
They decided that since we have collective farms, which
represent a socialist form of economy, we have everything; that this is sufficient to ensure the proper management of these farms, the proper planning of collective
farming, and the conversion of the collective farms into
exemplary socialist enterprises. They failed to understand that in their organisational structure the collective farms are still weak and need considerable assistance
from the Party both in the way of providing them with
tried Bolshevik cadres, and in the way of guidance in
their day-to-day affairs. But that is not all, and not
even the main thing. The main defect is that many of
our comrades overestimated the strength and possibilities of the collective farms as a new form of organi-
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231
sation of agriculture. They failed to understand that,
in spite of being a socialist form of economy, the collective farms by themselves are yet far from being guaranteed against all sorts of dangers and against the
penetration of all sorts of counter-revolutionary elements into their leadership; that they are not guaranteed against the possibility that under certain circumstances anti-Soviet elements may use the collective
farms for their own ends.
The collective farm is a socialist form of economic
organisation, just as the Soviets are a socialist form
of political organisation. Both collective farms and Soviets are a tremendous achievement of our revolution,
a tremendous achievement of the working class. But
collective farms and Soviets are only a form of organisation—a socialist form, it is true, but only a form of
organisation for all that. Everything depends upon the
content that is put into this form.
We know of cases when Soviets of Workers’ and
Soldiers’ Deputies for a certain time supported the counter-revolution against the revolution. That was the case
in our country, in the U.S.S.R., in July 1917, for example, when the Soviets were led by the Mensheviks and
the Socialist-Revolutionaries, and when the Soviets
shielded the counter-revolution against the revolution.
That was the case in Germany at the end of 1918, when
the Soviets were led by the Social-Democrats, and when
they shielded the counter-revolution against the revolution. Hence, it is not only a matter of Soviets as
a form of organisation, even though that form is a great
revolutionary achievement in itself. It is primarily
a matter of the content of the work of the Soviets; it
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J. V. S T A L I N
is a matter of the character of the work of the Soviets;
it is a matter of who leads the Soviets—revolutionaries
or counter-revolutionaries. That, indeed, explains the
fact that counter-revolutionaries are not always opposed
to Soviets. It is well known, for example, that during the Kronstadt mutiny 63 Milyukov, the leader of the
Russian counter-revolution, came out in favour of Soviets, but without Communists. “Soviets without Communists”—that was the slogan Milyukov, the leader of
the Russian counter-revolution, advanced at that time.
The counter-revolutionaries understood that it is not
merely a matter of the Soviets as such, but, primarily,
a matter of who is to lead them.
The same must be said of the collective farms. Collective farms, as a socialist form of economic organisation, may perform miracles of economic construction
if they are headed by real revolutionaries, Bolsheviks,
Communists. On the other hand, collective farms may
for a certain period become a shield for all sorts of counter-revolutionary acts if these collective farms are run
by Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, Petlyura
officers and other Whiteguards, former Denikinites and
Kolchakites. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that
the collective farms, as a form of organisation, not
only are not guaranteed against the penetration of antiSoviet elements, but, at first, even provide certain facilities which enable counter-revolutionaries to take advantage of them temporarily. As long as the peasants
were engaged in individual farming they were scattered
and separated from one another, and therefore the counter-revolutionary tendencies of anti-Soviet elements
among the peasantry could not be very effective. The
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situation is altogether different once the peasants have
adopted collective farming. In the collective farms the
peasants have a ready-made form of mass organisation.
Therefore, the penetration of anti-Soviet elements into
the collective farms and their anti-Soviet activities
may be much more effective. We must assume that the
anti-Soviet elements take all this into account. We
know that a section of the counter-revolutionaries, for
example, in the North Caucasus, themselves strive to
create something in the nature of collective farms, using
them as a legal cover for their underground organisations. We know also that the anti-Soviet elements in
a number of districts, where they have not yet been
exposed and crushed, readily join the collective farms,
and even praise them to the skies, in order to create
within them nests of counter-revolutionary activity. We
know also that a section of the anti-Soviet elements are
themselves now coming out in favour of collective farms,
but on condition that there are no Communists in the
collective farms. “Collective farms without Communists”—that is the slogan that is now being put forward among anti-Soviet elements. Hence, it is not only
a matter of the collective farms themselves as a socialist form of organisation; it is primarily a matter of the
content that is put into this form; it is primarily a
matter of who stands at the head of the collective farms
and who leads them.
From the point of view of Leninism, collective farms,
like the Soviets, taken as a form of organisation, are
a weapon, and only a weapon. Under certain conditions
this weapon can be turned against the revolution. It
can be turned against counter-revolution. It can serve
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J. V. S T A L I N
the working class and peasantry. Under certain conditions it can serve the enemies of the working class and
peasantry. It all depends upon who wields this weapon
and against whom it is directed.
The enemies of the workers and peasants, guided
by their class instinct, are beginning to understand this.
Unfortunately, some of our Communists still fail to
understand it.
And it is precisely because some of our Communists
have not understood this simple thing that we now
have a situation where a number of collective farms
are managed by well-camouflaged anti-Soviet elements, who organise wrecking and sabotage in them.
4) The fourth reason for the defects in our work in
the countryside is the inability of a number of our comrades in the localities to reorganise the front of the
struggle against the kulaks; their failure to understand
that the face of the class enemy has changed of late,
that the tactics of the class enemy in the countryside
have changed, and that we must change our tactics accordingly if we are to achieve success. The enemy understands the changed situation, understands the strength
and the might of the new system in the countryside;
and because he understands this, he has reorganised
his ranks, has changed his tactics—has passed from
frontal attacks against the collective farms to activities
conducted on the sly. But we have failed to understand this; we have overlooked the new situation and
continue to seek the class enemy where he is no longer
to be found; we continue to apply the old tactics of a
simplified struggle against the kulaks at a time when
these tactics have long since become obsolete.
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
235
People look for the class enemy outside the collective farms; they look for persons with ferocious visages,
with enormous teeth and thick necks, and with sawnoff shotguns in their hands. They look for kulaks like
those depicted on our posters. But such kulaks have
long ceased to exist on the surface. The present-day
kulaks and kulak agents, the present-day anti-Soviet
elements in the countryside are in the main “quiet,”
“smooth-spoken,” almost “saintly” people. There is no
need to look for them far from the collective farms;
they are inside the collective farms, occupying posts as
storekeepers, managers, accountants, secretaries, etc.
They will never say, “Down with the collective farms!”
They are “in favour” of collective farms. But inside
the collective farms they carry on sabotage and wrecking
work that certainly does the collective farms no good.
They will never say, “Down with grain procurements!”
They are “in favour” of grain procurements. They
“only” resort to demagogy and demand that the collective farm should reserve a fund for the needs of livestock-raising three times as large as that actually required;
that the collective farm should set aside an insurance
fund three times as large as that actually required; that
the collective farm should provide from six to ten pounds
of bread per working member per day for public catering,
etc. Of course, after such “funds” have been formed and
such grants for public catering made, after such rascally
demagogy, the economic strength of the collective farms
is bound to be undermined, and there is little left for
grain procurements.
In order to see through such a cunning enemy and
not to succumb to demagogy, one must possess revolu-
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J. V. S T A L I N
tionary vigilance; one must possess the ability to tear
the mask from the face of the enemy and reveal to the
collective farmers his real counter-revolutionary features. But have we many Communists in the countryside who possess these qualities? Not infrequently Communists not only fail to expose these class enemies, but,
on the contrary, they themselves yield to their rascally
demagogy and follow in their wake.
Failing to notice the class enemy in his new mask,
and being unable to expose his rascally machinations,
certain of our comrades not infrequently soothe themselves with the idea that the kulaks no longer exist;
that the anti-Soviet elements in the countryside have
already been destroyed as a result of the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class; and that in view of this
we can now reconcile ourselves to the existence of “neutral” collective farms, which are neither Bolshevik nor
anti-Soviet but which are bound to come over to the
side of the Soviet Government spontaneously, as it
were. But that is a profound delusion, comrades. The
kulaks have been defeated, but they are far from having
been crushed yet. More than that, they will not be
crushed very soon if the Communists go round gaping in
smug contentment, in the belief that the kulaks will
themselves walk into their graves, in the process of their
spontaneous development, so to speak. As for “neutral”
collective farms, there is not, and there cannot be,
any such thing. “Neutral” collective farms are a fantasy
conjured up by people who have eyes but do not
see. Where there is such an acute class struggle as is
now going on in our Soviet country there is no room
for “neutral” collective farms; under such circum-
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
237
stances, collective farms can be either Bolshevik or antiSoviet. And if certain collective farms are not being
led by us, that means that they are being led by
anti-Soviet elements. There can be no doubt about
that.
5) Finally, there is one other reason for the defects
in our work in the countryside. This consists in underestimating the role and responsibility of Communists
in the work of collective-farm development, in underestimating the role and responsibility of Communists in
the matter of grain procurements. In speaking of the
difficulties of grain procurement, Communists usually
throw the responsibility upon the peasants, claiming
that the peasants are to blame for everything. But that
is absolutely untrue, and certainly unjust. The peasants
are not to blame at all. If we are to speak of responsibility and blame, then the responsibility falls wholly
upon the Communists, and we Communists alone are
to blame for all this.
There is not, nor has there ever been, in the world
such a powerful and authoritative government as our
Soviet Government. There is not, nor has there ever
been, in the world such a powerful and authoritative
party as our Communist Party. No one prevents us,
nor can anyone prevent us, from managing the affairs
of the collective farms in the way that is required by
the interests of the collective farms, the interests of the
state. And if we do not always succeed in managing the
affairs of the collective farms in the way that Leninism
requires; if, not infrequently, we commit gross, unpardonable mistakes with regard to grain procurements,
say—then we, and we alone, are to blame.
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J. V. S T A L I N
We are to blame for not having perceived the negative aspects of collective-farm trade in grain, and for
having committed a number of gross mistakes.
We are to blame for the fact that a number of our
Party organisations have become divorced from the collective farms, have been resting on their laurels and
allowing things to take their own course.
We are to blame for the fact that a number of our
comrades still overestimate the collective farms as a
form of mass organisation, and fail to understand that
it is not so much a matter of the form as of taking the
leadership of the collective farms into our own hands
and expelling the anti-Soviet elements from the leadership
of the collective farms.
We are to blame for not having perceived the new
situation and for not having appreciated the new tactics
of the class enemy, who is carrying on his activities on
the sly.
One may ask: What have the peasants to do with it?
I know of whole groups of collective farms which
are developing and flourishing, which punctually carry
out the assignments of the state and are becoming economically stronger day by day. On the other hand, I know
also of collective farms, situated in the neighbourhood
of the first-mentioned, which, in spite of having the same
harvest yields and objective conditions as these, are
nevertheless wilting and in a state of decay. What is
the reason for this? The reason is that the first group of
collective farms are led by real Communists, while the
second group are led by drifters—with Party membership cards in their pockets, it is true, but drifters all
the same.
WORK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
239
One may ask: What have the peasants to do with it?
The result of underestimating the role and responsibility of Communists is that, not infrequently, the
reason for the defects in our work in the countryside is
not sought where it should be sought, and because of
this the defects remain unremoved.
The reason for the difficulties of grain procurement
must be sought not among the peasants, but among
ourselves, in our own ranks. For we are at the helm;
we have the resources of the state at our disposal; it is
our mission to lead the collective farms; and we must bear
the whole responsibility for the work in the countryside.
These are the main reasons for the defects of our
work in the countryside.
It may be thought that I have drawn too gloomy a
picture; that all our work in the countryside consists
exclusively of defects. That, of course, is not true. As
a matter of fact, alongside these defects, our work in
the countryside shows a number of important and decisive achievements. But, as I said at the beginning of
my speech, I did not set out to describe our achievements; I set out to speak only about the defects of our
work in the countryside.
Can these defects be remedied? Yes, unquestionably,
they can. Shall we remedy them in the near future?
Yes, unquestionably, we shall. There cannot be the slightest doubt about that.
I think that the Political Departments of the machine
and tractor stations and of the state farms represent
one of the decisive means by which these defects can
be removed in the shortest time. (Stormy and prolonged
applause.)
TO RABOTNITSA 64
Ardent greetings to Rabotnitsa on the tenth anniversary of its existence. I wish it every success in training
the masses of proletarian women in the spirit of the struggle for the complete triumph of socialism, in the spirit
of carrying out the great behests of our teacher Lenin.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 25,
January 26, 1933
LETTER TO COMRADE I. N. BAZHANOV
Dear Comrade I. N. Bazhanov,
I have received your letter ceding me your second
Order as a reward for my work.
I thank you very much for your warm words and comradely present. I know what you are depriving yourself of in my favour and appreciate your sentiments.
Nevertheless, I cannot accept your second Order.
I cannot and must not accept it, not only because it can
belong only to you, as you alone have earned it, but
also because I have been amply rewarded as it is by
the attention and respect of the comrades and, consequently, have no right to rob you.
Orders were instituted not for those who are well
known as it is, but mainly for heroic people who are
little known and who need to be made known to all.
Besides, I must tell you that I already have two
Orders. That is more than one needs, I assure you.
I apologise for the delay in replying.
With communist greetings,
J. Stalin
P.S. I am returning the Order to where it belongs.
J. Stalin
February 16, 1933
Published for the first time
SPEECH DELIVERED
AT THE FIRST ALL-UNION CONGRESS
OF COLLECTIVE-FARM SHOCK BRIGADERS 65
February 19, 1933
Comrade collective farmers, men and women! I did
not intend to speak at your congress. I did not intend
to because the previous speakers have said all that had
to be said—and have said it well and to the point. Is
it worth while to speak after that? But as you insist,
and the power is in your hands (prolonged applause),
I must submit.
I shall say a few words on various questions.
I
THE COLLECTIVE-FARM PATH
IS THE ONLY RIGHT PATH
First question. Is the path which the collective-farm
peasantry has taken the right path, is the path of collective farming the right one?
That is not an idle question. You shock brigaders of
the collective farms evidently have no doubt that the
collective farms are on the right path. Possibly, for
that reason, the question will seem superfluous to you.
But not all peasants think as you do. There are still
not a few among the peasants, even among the collec-
SPEECH AT THE FIRST CONGRESS OF SHOCK BRIGADERS
243
tive farmers, who have doubts as to whether the collective-farm path is the right one. And there is nothing
surprising about it.
Indeed, for hundreds of years people have lived in
the old way, have followed the old path, have bent
their backs to the kulaks and landlords, to the usurers
and speculators. It cannot be said that that old, capitalist path was approved by the peasants. But that old
path was a beaten path, the customary path, and no one
had actually proved that it was possible to live in a different way, in a better way. The more so as in all bourgeois countries people are still living in the old way. . . .
And suddenly the Bolsheviks break in on this old stagnant life, break in like a storm and say: It is time to
abandon the old path, it is time to begin living in a
new way, in the collective-farm way; it is time to begin
living not as everyone lives in bourgeois countries, but in
a new way, co-operatively. But what is this new life—
who can tell? May it not turn out to be worse than the
old life? At all events, the new path is not the customary path, it is not a beaten path, not yet a fully explored
path. Would it not be better to keep to the old path?
Would it not be better to wait a little before embarking
on the new, collective-farm path? Is it worth while
to take the risk?
These are the doubts that are now troubling one
section of the labouring peasantry.
Ought we not to dispel these doubts? Ought we not
to bring these doubts out into the light of day and show
what they are worth? Clearly, we ought to.
Hence, the question I have just put cannot be described as an idle one.
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And so, is the path which the collective-farm peasantry has taken the right one?
Some comrades think that the transition to the new
path, to the collective-farm path, started in our country
three years ago. This is only partly true. Of course, the
development of collective farms on a mass scale started
in our country three years ago. The transition, as we
know, was marked by the routing of the kulaks and by
a movement among the vast masses of the poor and
middle peasantry to join the collective farms. All that
is true. But in order to start this mass transition to the
collective farms, certain preliminary conditions had
to be available, without which, generally speaking,
the mass collective-farm movement would have been
inconceivable.
First of all, we had to have the Soviet power, which
has helped and continues to help the peasantry to take
the collective-farm path:
Secondly, it was necessary to drive out the landlords and the capitalists, to take the factories and the
land away from them and declare these the property
of the people.
Thirdly, it was necessary to curb the kulaks and to
take machines and tractors away from them.
Fourthly, it was necessary to declare that the machines and tractors could be used only by the poor and
middle peasants united in collective farms.
Finally, it was necessary to industrialise the country, to set up a new tractor industry, to build new factories for the manufacture of agricultural machinery,
in order to supply tractors and machines in abundance
to the collective-farm peasantry.
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245
Without these preliminary conditions there could
have been no question of the mass transition to the collective-farm path that started three years ago.
Hence, in order to adopt the collective-farm path
it was necessary first of all to accomplish the October
Revolution, to overthrow the capitalists and landlords,
to take the land and factories away from them and to
set up a new industry.
It was with the October Revolution that the transition to the new path, to the collective-farm path, started.
This transition developed with fresh force only three
years ago because it was not until then that the economic results of the October Revolution made themselves
fully felt, it was not until then that success was achieved
in pushing forward the industrialisation of the country.
The history of nations knows not a few revolutions.
But those revolutions differ from the October Revolution
in that all of them were one-sided revolutions. One
form of exploitation of the working people was replaced
by another form of exploitation, but exploitation itself
remained. One set of exploiters and oppressors was replaced by another set of exploiters and oppressors, but
exploiters and oppressors, as such, remained. Only the
October Revolution set itself the aim of abolishing all
exploitation and of eliminating all exploiters and oppressors.
The revolution of the slaves eliminated the slaveowners and abolished the form of exploitation of
the toilers as slaves. But in their place it set up the serf owners
and the form of exploitation of the toilers as serfs. One
set of exploiters was replaced by another set of exploiters. Under the slave system the “law” permitted the
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slave-owner to kill his slaves. Under serfdom the “law”
permitted the serf owner “only” to sell his serfs.
The revolution of the peasant-serfs eliminated the
serf owners and abolished the serf form of exploitation.
But in their place it set up the capitalists and landlords,
the capitalist and landlord form of exploitation of the
toilers. One set of exploiters was replaced by another
set of exploiters. Under the serf system the “law” permitted the sale of serfs. Under the capitalist system
the “law” permits “only” of the toilers being doomed
to unemployment and destitution, to ruin and death
from starvation.
It was only our Soviet revolution, only our October Revolution that dealt with the question, not of substituting one set of exploiters for another, not of substituting one form of exploitation for another, but of eradicating all exploitation, of eradicating all exploiters, all
the rich and oppressors, old and new. (Prolonged applause.)
That is why the October Revolution was a preliminary condition and a necessary prerequisite for the
peasants’ transition to the new, collective-farm path.
Did the peasants act rightly in supporting the October Revolution? Yes, they did. They acted rightly,
because the October Revolution helped them to shake
off the yoke of the landlords and capitalists, the usurers
and kulaks, the merchants and speculators.
But that is only one side of the question. It is all
very well to drive out the oppressors, to drive out the
landlords and capitalists, to curb the kulaks and speculators. But that is not enough. In order to become entirely free from the old fetters it is not enough merely
to rout the exploiters; it is necessary also to build a
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247
new life—to build a life that will enable the labouring
peasants to improve their material conditions and culture
and make continuous progress from day to day and
year to year. In order to achieve this, a new system must
be set up in the countryside, the collective-farm system.
That is the other side of the question.
What is the difference between the old system and
the new, collective-farm system?
Under the old system the peasants worked singly,
following the ancient methods of their forefathers and
using antiquated implements of labour; they worked
for the landlords and capitalists, the kulaks and speculators; they worked and lived half-starved while they
enriched others. Under the new, collective-farm system
the peasants work in common, cooperatively, with the
help of modern implements—tractors and agricultural
machinery; they work for themselves and their collective
farms; they live without capitalists and landlords, without
kulaks and speculators; they work with the object of
raising their standard of welfare and culture from day to
day. Over there, under the old system, the government is a
bourgeois government, and it supports the rich against
the labouring peasantry. Here, under the new, collectivefarm system, the government is a workers’ and peasants’
government, and it supports the workers and peasants
against all the rich of whatever kind. The old system
leads to capitalism. The new system leads to socialism.
There you have the two paths, the capitalist path and
the socialist path: the path forward—to socialism, and
the path backward—to capitalism.
There are people who think that some sort of third
path could be followed. This unknown third path is most
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eagerly clutched at by some wavering comrades who
are not yet convinced that the collective-farm path is
the right one. They want us to return to the old system,
to return to individual farming, but without capitalists
and landlords. Moreover, they “only” want us to permit the existence of the kulaks and other small capitalists as a legitimate phenomenon of our economic
s y s t e m . A c t u a l l y, t h i s i s n o t a t h i r d p a t h , b u t t h e
second path—the path to capitalism. For what does
it mean to return to individual farming and to restore the kulaks? It means restoring kulak bondage,
restoring the exploitation of the peasantry by the kulaks and giving the kulaks power. But is it possible to
restore the kulaks and at the same time to preserve
the Soviet power? No, it is not possible. The restoration
of the kulaks is bound to lead to the creation of
a kulak power and to the liquidation of the Soviet
power—hence, it is bound to lead to the formation
of a bourgeois government. And the formation of a
b o u rg e o i s g o v e r n m e n t i s b o u n d t o l e a d i n i t s t u r n
to the restoration of the landlords and capitalists, to
the restoration of capitalism. The so-called third path
is actually the second path, the path leading back
to capitalism. Ask the peasants whether they want to
restore kulak bondage, to return to capitalism, to destroy
the Soviet power and restore power to the landlords and capitalists. Just ask them, and you will
find out which path the majority of the labouring
peasants regard as the only right path.
Hence, there are only two paths: either forward
and uphill—to the new, collective-farm system; or backward and down hill—to the old kulak-capitalist system.
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249
There is no third path.
The labouring peasants did right to reject the capitalist path and take the path of collective-farm development.
It is said that the collective-farm path is the right
p a t h , b u t a d i ff i c u l t o n e . T h a t i s o n l y p a r t l y t r u e .
Of course, there are difficulties on this path. A good
life cannot be obtained with out effort. But the point is
that the main difficulties are over, and those difficulties which now confront you are not worth talking
about seriously. At all events, compared with the difficulties which the workers experienced 10-15 years ago,
your present difficulties, comrade collective farmers,
seem mere child’s play. Your speakers here have praised
the workers of Leningrad, Moscow, Kharkov, and the
Donbas. They said that these workers have achievements to their credit and that you, collective farmers,
have far fewer achievements. It seems to me that even
a certain comradely envy was apparent in the remarks
of your speakers, as if to say: How good it would be
if we collective-farm peasants had the same achievements as you workers of Leningrad, Moscow, the Donbas, and Kharkov. . . .
That is all very well. But do you know what these
achievements cost the workers of Leningrad and Moscow;
what privations they had to endure in order finally to
attain these achievements? I could relate to you some
facts from the life of the workers in 1918, when for whole
weeks not a piece of bread, let alone meat or other food,
was distributed to the workers. The best times were considered to be the days on which we were able to distribute to the workers in Leningrad and Moscow one-eighth
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of a pound of black bread each, and even that was half
bran. And that lasted not merely a month or six months,
but for two whole years. But the workers bore it and did
not lose heart; for they knew that better times would
come and that they would achieve decisive successes.
Well—you see that the workers were not mistaken. Just
compare your difficulties and privations with the difficulties and privations which the workers have endured,
and you will see that they are not even worth talking
about seriously.
What is needed to push forward the collective-farm
movement and extend collective-farm development to
the utmost?
What is needed, in the first place, is that the collective farms should have land fully secured to them
and suitable for cultivation. Do you have that? Yes,
you do. It is well known that the best lands have been
transferred to the collective farms and have been durably
secured to them. Hence, the collective farmers can cultivate and improve their land as they please without any
fear that it will be taken from them and given to somebody else.
What is needed, secondly, is that the collective
farmers should have at their disposal tractors and machines. Do you have them? Yes, you do. Everyone
knows that our tractor works and agricultural machinery
works produce primarily and mainly for the collective
farms, supplying them with all modern implements.
What is needed, finally, is that the government
should support the collective-farm peasants to the utmost both with men and money, and that it should prevent the last remnants of the hostile classes from disrupt-
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251
ing the collective farms. Have you such a government? Yes, you have. It is called the Workers’ and Peasants’ Soviet Government. Name another country where
the government supports, not the capitalists and landlords, not the kulaks and other rich, but the labouring
peasants. There is not, nor has there ever been, another
country like this in the world. Only here, in the Land
of Soviets, does a government exist which stands solidly
for the workers and collective-farm peasants, for all
the working people of town and country, against all the
rich and the exploiters. (Prolonged applause.)
Hence, you have all that is needed to extend collective-farm development and to free yourself entirely
from the old fetters.
Of you only one thing is demanded—and that is to
work conscientiously; to distribute collective-farm incomes according to the amount of work done; to take
care of collective farm property, to take care of the tractors and machines; to see to it that the horses are well
looked after; to fulfil the assignments of your workers’
and peasants’ state; to consolidate the collective farms
and to expel from the collective farms the kulaks and
kulak agents who have wormed their way into them.
You will surely agree with me that to overcome these
difficulties, i.e., to work conscientiously and to take
good care of collective-farm property, is not so very
difficult. The more so that you are now working, not
for the rich and not for exploiters, but for yourselves,
for your own collective farms.
As you see, the collective-farm path, the path of
socialism, is the only right path for the labouring peasants.
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II
OUR IMMEDIATE TASK—TO MAKE
ALL THE COLLECTIVE FARMERS PROSPEROUS
Second question. What have we achieved on the new
path, on our collective-farm path, and what do we expect to achieve within the next two or three years?
Socialism is a good thing. A happy, socialist life
is unquestionably a good thing. But all that is a matter
of the future. The main question now is not what we shall
achieve in the future. The main question is: What have
we already achieved at present? The peasantry has taken
the collective-farm path. That is very good. But what has
it achieved on this path? What tangible results have we
achieved by following the collective-farm path?
One of our achievements is that we have helped the
vast masses of the poor peasants to join the collective
farms. One of our achievements is that by joining the
collective farms, where they have at their disposal the
best land and the finest instruments of production, the
vast masses of the poor peasants have risen to the level
of middle peasants. One of our achievements is that the
vast masses of the poor peasants, who formerly lived in
semi-starvation, have now, in the collective farms, become middle peasants, have attained material security.
One of our achievements is that we have put a stop to
the differentiation of the peasants into poor peasants
and kulaks; that we have routed the kulaks and have
helped the poor peasants to become masters of their own
labour in the collective farms, to become middle peasants.
What was the situation before the expansion of collective-farm development about four years ago? The
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253
kulaks were growing rich and were on the upgrade. The
poor peasants were becoming poorer, were sinking into
ruin and falling into bondage to the kulaks. The middle
peasants were trying to climb up to the kulaks, but they
were continually tumbling down and swelling the ranks
of the poor peasants, to the amusement of the kulaks.
It is not difficult to see that the only ones to profit by
this scramble were the kulaks, and perhaps, here and
there, some of the well-to-do peasants. Out of every hundred households in the countryside you could count four
to five kulak households, eight or ten well-to-do peasant
households, forty-five to fifty middle-peasant households,
and some thirty-five poor-peasant households. Hence,
at the lowest estimate, thirty-five per cent of all the
peasant households were poor-peasant households, compelled to bear the yoke of kulak bondage. That is apart
from the economically weaker strata of the middle peasants, comprising more than half of the middle peasantry,
whose condition differed little from that of the poor
peasants and who were directly dependent upon the
kulaks.
By the expansion of collective-farm development we
have succeeded in abolishing this scramble and injustice;
we have smashed the yoke of kulak bondage, brought
this vast mass of poor peasants into the collective
farms, given them a secure existence there, and raised
them to the level of middle peasants, able to make
use of the collective-farm land, the privileges granted
to collective farms, tractors and agricultural machinery.
And what does that mean? It means that not
less than 20,000,000 of the peasant population, not less
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than 20,000,000 poor peasants have been rescued from
destitution and ruin, have been rescued from kulak bondage, and have attained material security thanks to the
collective farms.
This is a great achievement, comrades. It is an achievement such as has never been known in the world
before, such as no other state in the world has yet
made.
There you have the practical, tangible results of
collective-farm development, the results of the fact that
the peasants have taken the collective-farm path.
But this is only our first step, our first achievement on the path of collective-farm development.
It would be wrong to think that we must stop at this
first step, at this first achievement. No, comrades, we
cannot stop at this achievement. In order to advance
further and definitively consolidate the collective farms
we must take a second step, we must secure a new achievement. What is this second step? It is to raise the collective farmers, both the former poor peasants and the
former middle peasants, to a still higher level. It is to
make all the collective farmers prosperous. Yes, comrades,
prosperous. (Prolonged applause.)
Thanks to the collective farms we have succeeded in
raising the poor peasants to the level of the middle peasants. That is very good. But it is not enough. We must
now succeed in taking another step forward, and help
all the collective farmers—both the former poor peasants and the former middle peasants—to rise to the
level of prosperous peasants. This can be achieved,
and we must achieve it at all costs. (Prolonged applause.)
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255
We now have all that is needed to achieve this aim.
At present our machines and tractors are badly utilised.
Our land is not well cultivated. We need only make
better use of the machines and tractors, we need only
improve the cultivation of the land, to increase the quantity of our produce two-fold and three-fold. And this
will be quite sufficient to convert all our collective
farmers into prosperous tillers of collective-farm
fields.
What was the position previously as regards the prosperous peasants? In order to become prosperous a peasant had to wrong his neighbours; he had to exploit
them; to sell to them dear and buy from them cheap;
to hire some labourers and thoroughly exploit them; to accumulate some capital and then, having strengthened his
position, to creep into the ranks of the kulaks. This,
indeed, explains why formerly, under individual farming,
the prosperous peasants aroused suspicion and hatred
among the poor and middle peasants. Now the position
is different. And the conditions are now different, too.
For collective farmers to become prosperous it is not at
all necessary now that they wrong or exploit their neighbours. And besides, it is not easy to exploit anybody
now; for private ownership of land and the renting of
land no longer exist in our country, the machines and
tractors belong to the state, and people who own capital
are not in fashion in the collective farms. There was
such a fashion in the past, but it is gone for ever. Only
one thing is now needed for the collective farmers to
become prosperous, namely, to work in the collective
farms conscientiously, to make proper use of the tractors
and machines, to make proper use of the draught cattle,
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to cultivate the land properly and to take care of the collective-farm property.
Sometimes it is said: If we are living under socialism,
why do we have to toil? We toiled before and we are toiling now; is it not time we left off toiling? Such talk
is fundamentally wrong, comrades. It is the philosophy
of loafers and not of honest working people. Socialism
does not in the least repudiate work. On the contrary,
socialism is based on work. Socialism and work are inseparable from each other.
Lenin, our great teacher, said: “He who does not
work, neither shall he eat.” What does this mean?
Against whom are Lenin’s words directed? Against the
exploiters, against those who do not work themselves,
but compel others to work for them, and get rich at the
expense of others. And against whom else? Against
those who loaf and want to live at the expense of others.
Socialism demands, not loafing, but that all should work
conscientiously; that they should work, not for others, not
for the rich and the exploiters, but for themselves, for the
community. And if we work conscientiously, work for ourselves, for our collective farms, then we shall succeed in
a matter of two or three years in raising all the collective
farmers, both the former poor peasants and the former
middle peasants, to the level of prosperous peasants,
to the level of people enjoying an abundance of produce
and leading a fully cultured life.
That is our immediate task. We can achieve it, and
we must achieve it at all costs. (Prolonged applause.)
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257
III
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS
And now permit me to make a few miscellaneous remarks.
First of all about our Party members in the countryside. There are Party members among you, but still more
of you are non-Party people. It is very good that more
non-Party people than Party members are present at this
congress, because it is precisely the non-Party people
that we must enlist for our work first of all. There are
Communists who approach the non-Party collective farmers in a Bolshevik manner. But there are also those
who plume themselves on being Party members and keep
non-Party people at a distance. That is bad and harmful.
The strength of the Bolsheviks, the strength of the Communists lies in the fact that they are able to rally millions of active non-Party people around our Party. We
Bolsheviks would never have achieved the successes we
have now achieved had we not been able to win for the
Party the confidence of millions of non-Party workers
and peasants. And what is needed for this? What is needed
is for the Party members not to isolate themselves from
the non-Party people, for the Party members not to withdraw into their Party shell, not to plume themselves on
being Party members, but to heed the voice of the nonParty people, not only to teach the non-Party people,
but also to learn from them.
It must not be forgotten that Party members do not
drop from the skies. We must remember that all Party
members were at some time non-Party people. Today a
man does not belong to the Party; tomorrow he will
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become a Party member. What is there to get conceited
about? Among us old Bolsheviks there are not a few
who have been working in the Party for 20 or 30 years.
But there was a time when we, too, were non-Party people. What would have happened to us 20 or 30 years
ago if the Party members at that time had domineered
over us and had not let us come close to the Party? Perhaps we would then have been kept away from the Party
for a number of years. Yet we old Bolsheviks are not
people of the least account in the world, comrades.
(Laughter, prolonged applause.)
That is why our Party members, the present young
Party members who sometimes turn up their noses at
non-Party people, should remember all this, should
remember that it is not conceit but modesty that is the
adornment of the Bolshevik.
Now a few words about the women, the women collective
farmers. The question of women in the collective farms
is a big question, comrades. I know that many of
you underestimate the women and even laugh at them.
But that is a mistake, comrades, a serious mistake.
The point is not only that women constitute half the
population. Primarily, the point is that the collectivefarm movement has advanced a number of remarkable
and capable women to leading positions. Look at this
congress, at the delegates, and you will realise that
women have long ago ceased to be backward and
have come into the front ranks. The women in the collective farms are a great force. To keep this force down
would be criminal. It is our duty to bring the women
in the collective farms forward and to make use of this
force.
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Of course, not so long ago, the Soviet Government
had a slight misunderstanding with the women collective farmers. That was over the cow. But now this business
about the cow has been settled, and the misunderstanding has been removed. (Prolonged applause.) We have
achieved a position where the majority of the collectivefarm households already have a cow each. Another year
or two will pass and there will not be a single collective
farmer without his own cow. We Bolsheviks will see to
it that every one of our collective farmers has a cow.
(Prolonged applause.)
As for the women collective farmers themselves, they
must remember the power and significance of the collective farms for women; they must remember that only
in the collective farm do they have the opportunity of
being on an equal footing with men. Without collective
farms—inequality; in collective farms—equal rights.
Let our comrades, the women collective farmers,
remember this and let them cherish the collectivefarm system as the apple of their eye. (Prolonged applause.)
A few words about the members of the Young Communist League, young men and women, in the collective
farms. The youth are our future, our hope, comrades.
The youth have to take our place, the place of the old
people. They have to carry our banner to final victory.
Among the peasants there are not a few old people, borne
down by the burden of the past, burdened with the habits
and the recollections of the old life. Naturally, they are
not always able to keep pace with the Party, to keep
pace with the Soviet system. Our youth are different.
They are free from the burden of the past, and it is easi-
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est for them to assimilate Lenin’s behests. And precisely
because it is easiest for the youth to assimilate Lenin’s
behests it is their mission to give a helping hand to
the laggards and waverers. True, they lack knowledge.
But knowledge is a thing that can be acquired. They may
not have it today, but they will have it tomorrow. Hence,
the task is to study and study again the principles of
Leninism. Comrade members of the Young Communist
League! Learn the principles of Bolshevism and lead the
waverers forward! Talk less and work more, and your
success will be assured. (Applause.)
A few words about the individual peasants. Little
has been said here about the individual peasants. But
that does not mean that they no longer exist. No, it does
not mean that. Individual peasants do exist, and we must
not leave them out of our calculations; for they are our
collective farmers of tomorrow. I know that one section
of the individual peasants has become utterly corrupt
and has taken to speculating. That, no doubt, explains
why the collective farmers accept individual peasants
into the collective farms with great circumspection, and
sometimes do not accept them at all. This, of course, is
quite right, and there cannot be any objection to it. But
there is another, larger section of individual peasants,
who have not taken to speculating and who earn their
bread by honest labour. These individual peasants, perhaps, would not be averse to joining the collective farms.
But they are hindered in this, on the one hand, by their
hesitation as to whether the collective-farm path is the
right path; and, on the other hand, by the bitter feelings
now existing amongst the collective farmers against the
individual peasants.
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261
Of course, we must understand the feelings of the
collective farmers and appreciate their situation. During
the past years they have suffered not a few insults and
jeers at the hands of the individual peasants. But insults
and jeers must not be allowed to have decisive importance here. He is a bad leader who cannot forget an offence,
and who puts his own feelings above the interests of the
collective-farm cause. If you want to be leaders, you
must be able to forget the insults to which you were
subjected by certain individual peasants. Two years ago
I received a letter from a peasant woman, a widow, living in the Volga region. She complained that the collective farm refused to accept her as a member, and she
asked for my support. I made inquiries at the collective
farm. I received a reply from the collective farm stating
that they could not accept her because she had insulted
a collective-farm meeting. Now, what was it all about? It
seems that at a meeting of peasants at which the collective
farmers called upon the individual peasants to join the
collective farm, this very widow, in reply to this appeal,
had lifted up her skirt and said—Here, take your collective farm! (Laughter.) Undoubtedly she had behaved badly and had insulted the meeting. But should her application to join the collective farm be rejected if, a year
later, she sincerely repented and admitted her error? I
think that her application should not be rejected. That
is what I wrote to the collective farm. The widow was
accepted into the collective farm. And what happened?
It turns out that she is now working in the collective
farm, not in the last, but in the front ranks. (Applause.)
There you have another example, showing that
leaders, if they want to be true leaders, must be able
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to forget an offence if the interests of the cause demand it.
The same thing must be said about individual peasants generally. I am not opposed to the exercise of
circumspection in accepting people into the collective
farms. But I am against barring the path to the collective farms to all individual peasants without discrimination. That is not our policy, not the Bolshevik policy.
The collective farmers must not forget that not long ago
they themselves were individual peasants.
Finally, a few words about the letter written by the
collective farmers of Bezenchuk. 66 This letter has been
published, and you must have read it. It is unquestionably a good letter. It shows that among our collective
farmers there are not a few experienced and intelligent
organisers and agitators in the cause of collective farming, who are the pride of our country. But this letter contains one incorrect passage with which we cannot possibly agree. The point is that the Bezenchuk comrades describe their work in the collective farm as modest and all
but insignificant work, whereas they describe the efforts
of orators and leaders, who sometimes make speeches of
inordinate length, as great and creative work. Can we
agree with that? No, comrades, we cannot possibly agree
with it. The Bezenchuk comrades have made a mistake
here. Perhaps they made the mistake out of modesty.
But the mistake does not cease to be a mistake for all
that. The times have passed when leaders were regarded
as the only makers of history, while the workers and
peasants were not taken into account. The destinies of
nations and of states are now determined, not only by
leaders, but primarily and mainly by the vast masses of
SPEECH AT THE FIRST CONGRESS OF SHOCK BRIGADERS
263
the working people. The workers and the peasants, who
without fuss and noise are building factories and mills,
constructing mines and railways, building collective
farms and state farms, creating all the values of life,
feeding and clothing the whole world—they are the real
heroes and the creators of the new life. Apparently, our
Bezenchuk comrades have forgotten this. It is not good
when people overrate their strength and begin to be conceited about the services they have rendered. That leads
to boasting, and boasting is not a good thing. But it is
still worse when people begin to underrate their strength
and fail to see that their “modest” and “insignificant”
work is really great and creative work that decides the
fate of history.
I would like the Bezenchuk comrades to approve this
slight amendment of mine to their letter.
With that, let us conclude, comrades.
(Loud and prolonged applause, increasing to an ovation.
All rise and greet Comrade Stalin. Loud cheers. Shouts:
“Long live Comrade Stalin, hurrah!” “Long live the
advanced collective farmer!” “Long live our leader,
Comrade Stalin!”)
Pravda, No. 53,
February 23, 1933
GREETINGS TO THE RED ARMY ON ITS
FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY
To the Revolutionary Military Council of the U.S.S.R.
Greetings to the men, commanders and political personnel of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army!
Created under the leadership of Lenin, the Red Army
covered itself with undying glory in the great battles of
the Civil War, in which it drove out the interventionists
from the U.S.S.R. and upheld the cause of socialism
in our country.
The Red Army is today a bulwark of peace and the
peaceful labour of the workers and peasants, the vigilant guardian of the frontiers of the Soviet Union.
The workers of our country, who have victoriously
completed the five-year plan in four years, are equipping the Red Army with new instruments of defence.
Your job, comrades, is to learn to handle those instruments to perfection and to do your duty to your country,
should our enemies try to attack it.
Hold high the banner of Lenin, the banner of struggle for communism!
L o n g l i v e t h e h e r o i c R e d A r m y, i t s l e a d e r s , i t s
Revolutionary Military Council!
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 53,
February 23, 1933
REPLY TO A LETTER FROM Mr. BARNES
March 20, 1933
Dear Mr. Barnes,
Your fears as to the safety of American citizens in the
U.S.S.R. are quite groundless.
The U.S.S.R. is one of the few countries in the world
where a display of national hatred or an unfriendly
attitude towards foreigners as such is punishable by
law. There has never been, nor could there be, a case of
any one becoming an object of persecution in the U.S.S.R.
on account of his national origin. That is particularly
true with regard to foreign specialists in the U.S.S.R.,
including American specialists, whose work in my opinion deserves our thanks.
As for the few British employees of Metro-Vickers, 67
legal action was taken against them not as Britishers
but as persons who, our investigating authorities assert,
have violated laws of the U.S.S.R. Was not legal action
taken similarly against Russians? I do not know what
bearing this case can have on American citizens.
Ready to be of service to you,
J. Stalin
Published for the first time
TO COMRADE S. M. BUDYONNY
Ardent Bolshevik greetings on his fiftieth birthday
to Comrade Budyonny—comrade-in-arms in the Civil
War, organiser and commander of the glorious Red Cavalry, Red Army leader of the, highest talent from the ranks
of the revolutionary peasantry!
I firmly clasp your hand, dear Semyon Mikhailovich.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 115,
April 26, 1933
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
May 13, 1933
(Brief Record)
Stalin: What can I do for you?
Robins: I consider it a great honour to have an opportunity of paying you a visit.
S t a l i n : T h e r e i s n o t h i n g p a r t i c u l a r i n t h a t . Yo u
are exaggerating.
Robins (smiles): What is most interesting to me is
that throughout Russia I have found the names LeninStalin, Lenin-Stalin, Lenin-Stalin, linked together.
Stalin: That, too, is an exaggeration. How can I be
compared to Lenin?
Robins (smiles): Would it also be an exaggeration
to say that all this time the oldest government in the
world has been the government of Soviet Russia—the
Council of People’s Commissars?
Stalin: That, to be sure, is not exaggerated.
Robins: The interesting and important point is that
this government has not taken a reactionary direction
in its work and that it is the government set up by Lenin
that has proved strong. It resists all hostile lines.
Stalin: That is true.
Robins: At the May Day demonstration Russia’s development during the past fifteen years impressed itself
268
J. V. S T A L I N
upon me with particular clarity and sharpness, for I
witnessed the May Day demonstration in 1918, and now
in 1933.
Stalin: We have managed to do a few things in recent
years. But fifteen years is a long period of time.
Robins: Still, in the life of a country it is a short period for such great progress as Soviet Russia has achieved
during this time.
Stalin: We might have done more, but we did not
manage to.
Robins: It is interesting to compare the underlying
motives, the basic lines followed in the two demonstrations. The 1918 demonstration was addressed to the outside world, to the proletariat of the whole world, to the
international proletariat, and was a call to revolution.
Now the motive was different. Now men, women and the
youth went to the demonstration to proclaim: This is the
country we are building, this is the land we shall defend
with all our strength!
Stalin: At that time the demonstration was agitational, but now it is a summing up.
Robins: You probably know that during these fifteen years I have interested myself in establishing rational relations between our two countries, and have
endeavoured to dispel the existing hostile attitude of
the ruling circles in America.
Stalin: I knew of this in 1918 from what Lenin had
said, and afterwards on the basis of facts. Yes, I know it.
Robins: I have come here in the capacity of a purely
private citizen and speak only for myself. The chief
aim of my visit is to ascertain the prospects of establishing relations, to ascertain the actual facts concerning
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
269
the ability to work and the creative, inventive capacity
of the Russian workers. Anti-Soviet propaganda has it
that the Russian worker is lazy, does not know how to
work, and ruins the machines he handles; that such a
country has no future. I want to counteract this propaganda not merely with words, but armed with the facts.
The second question of interest to me in this connection is the situation in agriculture. It is being asserted that industrialisation has played havoc with agriculture, that the peasants have stopped sowing, have
stopped gathering in the grain. Every year it is asserted
that this year Russia is sure to die of famine. I should
like to learn the facts about agriculture in order to
refute these assertions. I expect to see the areas where
new kinds of crops have been sown this year for the
first time. What interests me in particular is the development of the principal grain crops of the Soviet Union.
The third question that interests me is public education, the development of children and the youth, their
upbringing; how far public education has developed
in the fields of art and literature, as regards what is
called creative genius, inventive capacity. In America two
types of creativeness are recognised—one is the creativeness of the study and the other is broad, life-inspired
creativeness, manifestations of the creative spirit in
life. I am interested in knowing how children and young
people are developing. I hope to see in real life how they
study, how they are brought up and how they develop.
On the first and third questions I have already obtained some valuable information and count on getting
additional data. On the second question, concerning
the development of agriculture, I expect to be able to
FROM MARX
TO MAO
NOT FOR
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DISTRIBUTION
270
J. V. S T A L I N
discover the real facts during my trip to Magnitogorsk and
from there to Rostov, Kharkov and back. I expect to
have a look at collective farms and see how the archaic
strip system of cultivation is being eliminated and largescale agriculture developed.
Stalin: Do you want my opinion?
Robins: Yes, I would like to have it.
Stalin: The notion that the Soviet worker is by
nature incapable of coping with machines and breaks them
is quite wrong.
On this score I must say that no such thing is happening here as occurred in Western Europe and America,
where workers deliberately smashed machines because
these deprived them of their crust of bread. Our workers
have no such attitude to machinery, because in our country machines are being introduced on a mass scale in
conditions where there is no unemployment, because
the machines do not deprive the workers of their livelihood, as with you, but make their work easier.
As far as inability to work, the lack of culture of
our workers is concerned, it is true that we have few
trained workers and they do not cope with machinery
as well as workers in Europe or America do. But with us
this is a temporary phenomenon. If, for example, one
were to investigate where throughout history the workers
learned to master new technical equipment quickest—in
Europe, America, or Russia during the last five years—
I think it will be found that the workers learned quicker
in Russia, in spite of the low level of culture. The mastery of the production of wheeled tractors in the West
took several years, although, of course, technology was
well developed there. Mastery of this matter in our coun-
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
271
try was quicker. For example, in Stalingrad and Kharkov the production of tractors was mastered in some
12-14 months. At the present time, the Stalingrad Tractor Works is not only working to estimated capacity,
not only turns out 144 tractors per day, but sometimes
even 160, that is, it works above its planned capacity.
I am taking this as an example. Our tractor industry is
new, it did not exist before. The same thing is true of
our aircraft industry—a new, delicate business, also
swiftly mastered. The automobile industry is in a similar position from the view-point of rapidity of mastery.
The same applies to machine-tool building.
In my opinion, this rapid mastery of the production
of machines is to be explained not by the special ability
of the Russian workers but by the fact that in our country the production of, say, aircraft and engines for them,
of tractors, automobiles and machine tools is considered
not the private affair of individuals, but an affair of
the state. In the West the workers produce to get wages,
and are not concerned about anything else. With us production is regarded as a public matter, a state matter, it
is regarded as a matter of honour. That is why new technique is mastered so quickly in our country.
In general, I consider it impossible to assume that
the workers of any particular nation are incapable of
mastering new technique. If we look at the matter from
the racial point of view, then in the United States, for
instance, the Negroes are considered “bottom category
men,” yet they master technique no worse than the
whites. The question of the mastery of technique by the
workers of a particular nation is not a biological question,
not a question of heredity, but a question of time:
272
J. V. S T A L I N
today they have not mastered it, tomorrow they will learn
and master it. Everyone, including the Bushman, can
master technique, provided he is helped.
Robins: The ambition, the desire to master, is also
required.
Stalin: Of course. The Russian workers have more
than enough desire and ambition. They consider the
mastery of new technique a matter of honour.
Robins: I have already sensed this in your factories
where I have seen that socialist emulation has resulted
in the creation of a new kind of ardour, a new sort of
ambition that money could never buy, because the workers expect to get for their work something better and
greater than money can procure.
Stalin: That is true. It is a matter of honour.
Robins: I shall take with me to America diagrams
showing the development of the workers’ inventiveness
and their creative proposals, which improve production
and effect considerable savings in production. I have
seen the portraits of quite a few such worker-inventors
who have done very much for the Soviet Union in the
way of improving production and achieving economies.
Stalin: Our country has produced a comparatively
large number of such workers. They are very capable
people.
Robins: I have been in all your big Moscow factories—
the AMO Automobile Works, the Ball Bearing Works,
the Freser Works and others—and everywhere I came
across organisations for promoting workers’ inventiveness. The toolroom in a number of these factories impressed me particularly. As these toolrooms provide their
factories with highly valuable tools the workers there
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
273
exert all their faculties to the utmost, give full play to
their creative initiative and achieve striking results.
Stalin: In spite of that, we have many shortcomings
as well. We have few skilled workers, while a great many
are required. Our technical personnel is also small.
Each year their number grows, and still there are fewer
of them than we need. The Americans have been of
great help to us. That must be admitted. They have
helped more effectively than others and more boldly than
others. Our thanks to them for that.
Robins: I have witnessed an internationalism in
your enterprises which produced a very strong impression on me. Your factory managements are ready to adopt
the technical achievements of any country—France, America, Britain or Germany—without any prejudice against
these countries. And it seems to me that it is just this internationalism that will make it possible to combine in
one machine all the advantages possessed by the machines
of other countries and thus create more perfect machines.
Stalin: That will happen.
On the second question, about industrialisation allegedly ruining agriculture, that notion is also wrong.
Far from ruining agriculture in our country, industrialisation is saving it, and saving our peasants. A few
years ago we had a greatly disunited, small and very
small, peasant economy. With the increasing division
of the land, the peasant allotments shrank so much that
there was no room to keep a hen. Add to this the primitive farming equipment, such as wooden ploughs and
emaciated horses, which were incapable of turning up
not only virgin soil, but even the ordinary, rather hard,
soil, and you will have a picture of the deterioration
274
J. V. S T A L I N
of agriculture. Three or four years ago there were about
7,000,000 wooden ploughs in the U.S.S.R. The only
choice left for the peasants was this: either to lie down
and die or to adopt a new form of land tenure and cultivate the land with machines. This indeed explains
why the Soviet Government’s call to the peasants issued
about that time—to unite their tiny plots of land into
large tracts and accept from the government tractors,
harvesters and threshers for working these tracts, for
gathering and threshing the harvest—found a very lively
response among the peasants. They naturally seized on
the proposal of the Soviet Government, began to unite
their plots of land into large fields, accepted the tractors
and other machines and thus emerged on the broad highway of making agriculture large scale, the new road of
the radical improvement of agriculture.
It follows that industrialisation, as a result of which
the peasants receive tractors and other machines, has
saved the peasants, has saved agriculture.
The process of uniting small peasant farms by whole
villages into large farms we call collectivisation, and
the united large farms themselves—collective farms.
The absence in our country of private property in land,
the nationalisation of the land, makes collectivisation
much easier. The land is transferred to the collective
farms for their use in perpetuity and, owing to the absence of private property in land, no land can be bought
or sold here. All this considerably facilitates the formation and development of collective farms.
I do not mean to say that all this, i.e., collectivisation and the rest, is proceeding smoothly with us. There
are difficulties, of course, and they are not small ones.
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
275
Collectivisation, like every great new undertaking, has
not only friends, but also enemies. Nevertheless, the
overwhelming majority of the peasants are in favour of collectivisation, and the number of its opponents is becoming smaller and smaller.
Robins: Every advance involves certain outlays, and
this we take into account and include in our calculations.
Stalin: In spite of these difficulties, however, one
thing is clear—and I have not the slightest doubt on this
score: nineteen-twentieths of the peasantry have recognised, and most of the peasants accept the fact with great
joy, that the collectivisation of agriculture has become an
irreversible fact. So then this has already been achieved.
The predominant form of agriculture in our country now
is the collective farm. Take the grain sowing or harvesting figures, the figures for grain production, and you
will see that at the present time the individual peasants
provide something like 10-15 per cent of the total gross
output of grain. The rest comes from the collective farms.
Robins: I am interested in the question whether it
is true that last year ’s crop was gathered in unsatisfactorily, that at the present time the sowing campaign
is proceeding satisfactorily, while last year the harvesting proceeded unsatisfactorily.
Stalin: Last year the harvesting was less satisfactory than the year before.
Robins: I have read your statements, and I believe
they warrant the conclusion that this year the harvesting
will be more successful.
Stalin: It will most probably proceed much better.
Robins: I think you appreciate no less than I do the
tremendous achievement embodied in your successful
276
J. V. S T A L I N
industrialisation of agriculture, a thing which no other
country has been able to do. In all capitalist countries
agriculture is undergoing a deep crisis and is in need of
industrialisation. The capitalist countries manage somehow or other to cope with industrial production, but not
one of them can cope with agriculture. The great achievement of the Soviet Union is that it has set about the solution of this problem and is successfully coping with it.
Stalin: Yes, that is a fact.
Such are our achievements and shortcomings in the
sphere of agriculture.
Now the third question—about the education of
children and of the youth as a whole. Ours is a fine youth,
full of the joy of life. Our state differs from all others in
that it does not stint the means for providing proper care
of children and for giving the youth a good upbringing.
Robins: In America it is believed that in your country the child is restricted in its development within
definite, rigid bounds and that these bounds leave no
freedom for the development of the creative spirit and
freedom of the mind. Do you not think that freedom for
the development of the creative spirit, freedom to express
what is in one, is of extremely great importance?
Stalin: First, concerning restrictions—this is not true.
The second is true. Undoubtedly a child cannot develop its faculties under a regime of isolation and strict regimentation, without the necessary freedom and encouragement of initiative. As regards the youth, all roads are
open to it in our country and it can freely perfect itself.
In our country children are not beaten and are very
seldom punished. They are given the opportunity of
choosing what they like, of pursuing a path of their own
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
277
choice. I believe that nowhere is there such care for the
child, for its upbringing and development, as among
us in the Soviet Union.
Robins: Can one consider that, as a result of the
new generation being emancipated from the burden of
want, being emancipated from the terror of economic
conditions, this emancipation is bound to lead to a new
flourishing of creative energy, to the blossoming of a new
art, to a new advance of culture and art, which was formerly hampered by all these shackles?
Stalin: That is undoubtedly true.
Robins: I am not a Communist and do not understand
very much about communism, but I should like America
to participate in, to have the opportunity of associating
itself with, the development that is taking place here in
Soviet Russia, and I should like Americans to get this
opportunity by means of recognition, by granting credits, by means of establishing normal relations between the
two countries, for example, in the Far East, so as to
safeguard the great and daring undertaking which is in
process in your country, so that it may be brought to
a successful conclusion.
Stalin (with a smile): I thank you for your good
wishes.
Robins: One of my closest friends is Senator Borah,
who has been the staunchest friend of the Soviet Union
and has been fighting for its recognition among the leaders of the American Government.
Stalin: That is so; he is doing much to promote the
establishment of normal relations between our two countries. But so far, unfortunately, he has not met with
success.
278
J. V. S T A L I N
Robins: I am convinced that the true facts are now
having a much greater effect than at any time during
the past fifteen years in favour of establishing normal
relations between our two countries.
Stalin: Quite true. But there is one circumstance
that hinders it. Britain, I believe, hinders it (smiles).
Robins: That is undoubtedly so. Still, the situation
forces us to act above all in our own interests, and the
conflict between our own interests and the course towards which other countries are driving us is impelling
America, at the present time more than at any other,
to establish such reciprocal relations. We are interested
in the development of American exports. The only big
market with great possibilities that have not been adequately utilised hitherto by anybody is the Russian market. American businessmen, if they wanted to, could
grant long-term credits. They are interested in tranquillity in the Far East, and nothing could promote this
more than the establishment of normal relations with the
Soviet Union. In this respect, Mr. Litvinov’s Geneva
declaration on the definition of an aggressor country
follows entirely the line of the Briand-Kellogg Pact,
which has played an important role in the matter of
peace. Stabilisation of reciprocal economic relations
throughout the world is in the interest of America, and
we fully realise that normal reciprocal economic relations cannot be attained while the Soviet Union is outside
the general economic system.
Stalin: All that is true.
Robins: I was and I remain an incorrigible optimist.
I believed in the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution as
long as fifteen years ago. They were then depicted as
TALK WITH COLONEL ROBINS
279
agents of German imperialism; Lenin, in particular, was
considered a German agent. But I considered and still
consider Lenin a very great man, one of the greatest
leaders in all world history.
I hope that the information I have received at first
hand may help towards carrying out the plan of rapprochement and co-operation between our two countries
about which I have spoken.
Stalin (smiling): I hope it will!
Robins (smiles): If you had expressed yourself in
the American manner you would have said: “More power
to your elbow.” He is not sure of having much strength
left in his elbow.
Stalin: May be.
Robins: I think there is nothing greater and more
magnificent than to participate in the making of a new
world, to participate in what we are now engaged in.
Participation in the creation and building of a new world
is something of paramount significance not only now, but
thousands of years hence.
Stalin: All the same this matter presents great difficulties (smiles).
Robins (smiles): I am very grateful to you for the
attention you have given me.
Stalin: And I thank you for having remembered the
Soviet Union after an absence of fifteen years and for paying it another visit. (Both smile. Robins bows.)
Published for the first time
GREETINGS
ON THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ALL-UNION LENINIST YOUNG
COMMUNIST LEAGUE
Friendly greetings on its fifteenth anniversary to
the Leninist workers’ and peasants’ Young Communist
League, the organiser of our glorious revolutionary youth!
I wish it success in training our youth in the spirit
of Leninism, in training our youth in the spirit of uncompromising struggle against the enemies of the working class, and of the utmost strengthening of international fraternal ties between the working people of all
languages and races in the world.
The young men and women shock brigaders of the
Y.C.L. have covered themselves with glory during the
period of the building of new factories and mills, mines,
railways, state farms and collective farms. Let us hope
that the young men and women shock brigaders of the
Y.C.L. will display still greater valour and initiative
in mastering new technique in all branches of the national economy, in enhancing the defence capacity of our
country, in strengthening our army, our navy, our air
force.
During the fifteen years of its existence the Leninist
Y.C.L. has boldly carried onwards the great banner
GREETINGS ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE A.U.L.Y.C.L.
281
of Lenin, rallying around it millions of young workers
and peasants, millions of young working women and peasant women. Let us hope that the Leninist Y.C.L. will
continue to hold high the banner of Lenin and will carry
it with honour to the victorious finish of our great struggle, to the complete victory of socialism.
Long live the Leninist Young Communist League!
Long live the Central Committee of the Leninist
Young Communist League!
J. Stalin
October 28, 1933
Pravda, No. 299,
October 29, 1933
TALK WITH Mr. DURANTY,
CORRESPONDENT OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
December 25, 1933
Duranty: Would you agree to send a message to
the American people through The New York Times?
Stalin: No. Kalinin has already sent one, 68 and I
cannot interfere in what is his prerogative.
If it is a question of relations between the U.S.A.
and the U.S.S.R., I am, of course, satisfied with their
renewal, as being an act of tremendous significance:
politically, because it increases the chances of preserving peace; economically, because it removes extraneous
elements and makes it possible for our two countries to
discuss questions of interest to them on a business basis;
lastly, it opens up the way to mutual co-operation.
Duranty: What in your opinion will be the possible
volume of Soviet-American trade?
Stalin: What Litvinov said at the London economic
conference 69 still holds good. We are the biggest market
in the world and are ready to order and pay for a large
quantity of goods. But we need favourable credit terms
and, moreover, must be sure that we shall be able to pay.
We cannot import without exports, because we do not
TALK WITH MR. DURANTY, CORRESPONDENT OF NEW YORK TIMES
283
want to place orders without being sure of our ability
to pay on time.
Everybody is surprised that we are paying and are
able to pay. I know that just now it is not the fashion
to pay back credits. But we do. Other governments have
stopped payment, but the U.S.S.R. has not and will
not do so. Many believed we were unable to pay, that we
lacked the wherewithal to pay, but we have shown them
that we can pay and they have had to acknowledge this.
Duranty: What about gold-mining in the U.S.S.R.?
Stalin: We have many auriferous districts and they
are being rapidly developed. Our output is already
double that of tsarist times and now amounts
to over a hundred million rubles a year. We have improved our prospecting methods, particularly during the
last two years, and have discovered large deposits. But
our industries are still young—not only the gold industry
but also industries concerned with pig iron, steel, copper
and all metallurgy—and for the time being our young
industries are not in a position to give proper assistance
to the gold industry. Our rates of development are rapid
but the volume of output is not yet large. We could quadruple gold production within a short period if we had
more dredges and other machinery.
Duranty: What is the total Soviet indebtedness on
foreign credits?
Stalin: A little over 450,000,000 rubles. During
the last few years we have paid back large sums—two
years ago we owed 1,400 millions on credit accounts.
We have paid back all this and we shall be paying back,
in the period to the end of 1934 or the beginning of 1935,
at the due dates.
284
J. V. S T A L I N
Duranty: Granted there is no longer any doubt about
Soviet willingness to pay, but how about Soviet ability
to pay?
Stalin: With us there is no difference between the
first and the second, because we assume no obligations
that we cannot discharge. Look at our economic relations with Germany. Germany declared a moratorium on
a considerable portion of her foreign debts and we could
have taken advantage of the German precedent and acted
in the same way towards her. But we are not doing so.
And, incidentally, we are now not so dependent on German industry as before. We ourselves can manufacture
the equipment we need.
Duranty: What do you think of America? I heard you
had a lengthy talk with Bullitt. What is your opinion of
him? Do you consider, as you did three years ago, that
our crisis, as you told me at the time, is not the last
crisis of capitalism?
Stalin: Bullitt made a good impression on me and my
comrades. I had never met him before but had heard
much about him from Lenin, who also liked him. What
I like about him is that he does not talk like the ordinary
diplomat—he is a straightforward man and says what
he thinks. In general he produced a very good impression
here.
Roosevelt, by all accounts, is a determined and courageous politician. There is a philosophical system,
solipsism, which holds that the external world does not
exist and the only thing that does exist is one’s own
self. It long seemed that the American Government subscribed to this system and did not believe in the existence of the U.S.S.R. But Roosevelt evidently is not a
TALK WITH MR. DURANTY, CORRESPONDENT OF NEW YORK TIMES
285
supporter of this strange theory. He is a realist and knows
that reality is as he sees it.
As for the economic crisis, it really is not the last.
The crisis, of course, disrupted all business but lately,
it seems, business is beginning to recover. It is possible
that the lowest point of the economic decline has already
been passed. I do not think that the 1929 boom level
will be attained, but a transition from crisis to depression and to a certain revival of business in the near
future—true, with certain fluctuations upwards and downwards—is not only not precluded but maybe even probable.
Duranty: And what about Japan?
Stalin: We should like to maintain good relations
with Japan, but unfortunately this does not depend on
us alone. If a sensible policy gains the upper hand in
Japan, our two countries can live in friendship. But we
are afraid that the bellicose elements may push a sensible
policy into the background. That is where the real danger lies and we are compelled to prepare against it. No
nation can have any respect for its government if the
latter sees the danger of an attack and does not take measures of self-defence. In my opinion Japan would be acting unwisely should she attack the U.S.S.R. Her economic condition is not particularly good, she has weak
spots such as Korea, Manchuria and China, and besides
she can hardly count on obtaining support from other
countries in this adventure. Unfortunately, good military specialists are not always good economists and
they can not always distinguish between the force of
arms and the force of economic laws.
Duranty: And what about Britain?
286
J. V. S T A L I N
Stalin: I think a trade agreement will be signed with
Britain and economic relations will develop, inasmuch
as the Conservative Party is bound to realise that it
stands to gain nothing by putting obstacles in the way
of trade with the U.S.S.R. But I doubt whether under
present conditions the two countries will be able to derive such great advantages from trade as one might suppose.
Duranty: What do you think of the reform of the
League of Nations as proposed by the Italians?
Stalin: We have received no proposals on that score
from Italy, although our representative did discuss the
matter with the Italians.
Duranty: Is your attitude towards the League of
Nations always exclusively negative?
Stalin: No, not always and not under all circumstances. You perhaps do not fully understand our point of
view. In spite of Germany’s and Japan’s withdrawal
from the League of Nations—or possibly just because
of it—the League may become a certain factor in retarding the outbreak of hostilities or in preventing them
altogether. If that is so, if the League can prove to be
something of an obstacle that would make war at least
somewhat more difficult and peace to some extent easier,
then we shall not be against the League. Yes, if such is
the course of historical events, the possibility is not
excluded that we shall support the League of Nations
despite its colossal shortcomings.
Duranty: What is now the U.S.S.R.’s most important problem of internal policy?
Stalin: The development of trade between town and
country and the improvement of all forms of transport,
TALK WITH MR. DURANTY, CORRESPONDENT OF NEW YORK TIMES
287
particularly railways. Solving these problems is not
easy, but is easier than the problems that we have already solved, and I am confident that we shall solve
them. The problem of industry is solved. The problem
of agriculture, that of the peasants and the collective
farms—the most difficult of all—may also be considered
already solved. Now we have to solve the problem of
trade and transport.
Pravda, No. 4,
January 4, 1934
REPORT
TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
ON THE WORK OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF THE C.P.S.U.(B.) 70
January 26, 1934
I
THE CONTINUING CRISIS OF WORLD CAPITALISM
AND THE EXTERNAL SITUATION
OF THE SOVIET UNION
Comrades, more than three years have passed since
the Sixteenth Congress. That is not a very long period.
But it has been fuller in content than any other period.
I do not think that any period in the last decade has
been so rich in events as this one.
In the economic sphere these years have been years
of continuing world economic crisis. The crisis has affected not only industry, but also agriculture as a whole.
The crisis has raged not only in the sphere of production
and trade; it has also extended to the sphere of credit
and money circulation, and has completely upset the established credit and currency relations among countries.
While formerly people here and there still disputed
whether there was a world economic crisis or not, now
they no longer do so, for the existence of the crisis and
its devastating effects are only too obvious. Now the con-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
289
troversy centres around another question: Is there a way
out of the crisis or not; and if there is, then what is to
be done?
In the political sphere these years have been years
of further tension both in the relations between the capitalist countries and in the relations within them. Japan’s
war against China and the occupation of Manchuria,
which have strained relations in the Far East; the victory of fascism in Germany and the triumph of the idea of
revenge, which have strained relations in Europe; the
withdrawal of Japan and Germany from the League of
Nations, which has given a new impetus to the growth
of armaments and to the preparations for an imperialist
war; the defeat of fascism in Spain, 71 which is one more
indication that a revolutionary crisis is maturing and
that fascism is far from being long-lived—such are the
most important events of the period under review. It
is not surprising that bourgeois pacifism is breathing its
last and that the trend towards disarmament is openly
and definitely giving way to a trend towards armament
and rearmament.
Amid the surging waves of economic perturbations
and military-political catastrophes, the U.S.S.R. stands
out like a rock, continuing its work of socialist construction and its fight to preserve peace. Whereas in the
capitalist countries the economic crisis is still raging,
in the U.S.S.R. the advance continues both in industry
and in agriculture. Whereas in the capitalist countries
feverish preparations are in progress for a new war for
a new redivision of the world and of spheres of influence,
the U.S.S.R. is continuing its systematic and persistent
struggle against the menace of war and for peace; and it
290
J. V. S T A L I N
cannot be said that the efforts of the U.S.S.R. in this
direction have had no success.
Such is the general picture of the international situation at the present moment.
Let us pass to an examination of the principal data
on the economic and political situation in the capitalist countries.
1. THE COURSE OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
IN THE CAPITALIST COUNTRIES
The present economic crisis in the capitalist countries differs from all analogous crises, among other things,
in that it is the longest and most protracted crisis. Formerly crises would come to an end in a year or two; the
present crisis, however, is now in its fifth year, devastating the economy of the capitalist countries year after
year and draining it of the fat accumulated in previous
years. It is not surprising that this is the most severe of
all the crises that have taken place.
How is this unprecedentedly protracted character
of the present industrial crisis to be explained?
It is to be explained, first of all, by the fact that
the industrial crisis has affected every capitalist country without exception, which has made it difficult for
some countries to manoeuvre at the expense of others.
Secondly, it is to be explained by the fact that the
industrial crisis has become interwoven with the agrarian
crisis which has affected all the agrarian and semi-agrarian countries without exception, which could not but
make the industrial crisis more complicated and more
profound.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
291
Thirdly, it is to be explained by the fact that the
agrarian crisis has grown more acute in this period, and
has affected all branches of agriculture, including livestock farming; that it has brought about a retrogression
of agriculture, a reversion from machines to hand labour,
a substitution of horses for tractors, a sharp reduction
in the use of artificial fertilisers, and in some cases a
complete abandonment of them—all of which has caused
the industrial crisis to become still more protracted.
Fourthly, it is to be explained by the fact that the
monopolist cartels which dominate industry strive to
maintain high commodity prices, a circumstance which
makes the crisis particularly painful and hinders the
absorption of commodity stocks.
Lastly—and this is the chief thing—it is to be explained by the fact that the industrial crisis broke out
in the conditions of the general crisis of capitalism, when
capitalism no longer has, nor can have, either in the
major countries or in the colonial and dependent countries,
the strength and stability it had before the war and the
October Revolution; when industry in the capitalist
countries has acquired, as a heritage from the imperialist war, chronic under-capacity operation of plants and
armies of millions of unemployed, of which it is no longer
able to rid itself.
Such are the circumstances that have given rise to
the extremely protracted character of the present industrial crisis.
It is these circumstances also that explain the fact
that the crisis has not been confined to the sphere of production and trade, but has also affected the credit system,
foreign exchange, the debt settlements, etc., and has
292
J. V. S T A L I N
broken down the traditionally established relations both
between countries and between social groups in the various countries.
An important part was played by the fall in commodity prices. In spite of the resistance of the monopolist
cartels, the fall in prices increased with elemental force,
affecting primarily and mainly the commodities of the
unorganised commodity owners—peasants, artisans, small
capitalists—and only gradually and to a smaller degree
those of the organised commodity owners—the capitalists
united in cartels. The fall in prices made the position
of debtors (manufacturers, artisans, peasants, etc.)
intolerable, while, on the other hand, it placed creditors
in an unprecedentedly privileged position. Such a situation was bound to lead, and actually did lead to the
mass bankruptcy of firms and of individual capitalists.
As a result, tens of thousands of joint-stock companies
have failed in the United States, Germany, Britain and
France during the past three years. The bankruptcy of
joint-stock companies was followed by a depreciation
of currency, which slightly alleviated the position of
debtors. The depreciation of currency was followed by
the non-payment of debts, both foreign and internal,
legalised by the state. The collapse of such banks as the
Darmstadt and Dresden banks in Germany and the
Kreditanstalt in Austria, and of concerns like Kreuger’s
in Sweden, the Insull corporation in the United States,
etc. is well known to all.
Naturally, these phenomena, which shook the foundations of the credit system, were bound to be followed,
and actually were followed, by the cessation of payments
on credits and foreign loans, the cessation of payments
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
293
on inter-Allied debts the cessation of export of capital,
a further decline in foreign trade, a further decline in the
export of commodities, an intensification of the struggle
for foreign markets, trade war between countries, and—
dumping. Yes, comrades, dumping. I am not referring
to the alleged Soviet dumping, about which only very
recently certain honourable members of honourable parliaments in Europe and America were shouting themselves hoarse. I am referring to the real dumping that
is now being practised by almost all “civilised” states,
and about which these gallant and honourable members
of parliaments maintain a prudent silence.
Naturally, also, these destructive phenomena accompanying the industrial crisis, which took place outside the sphere of production, could not but in their turn
influence the course of the industrial crisis, aggravating
it and complicating the situation still further.
Such is the general picture of the course of the industrial crisis.
Here are a few figures, taken from official data, that
illustrate the course of the industrial crisis during the
period under review.
Volume of Industrial Output
(Per cent of 1929)
U.S.S.R.
U.S.A. .
Britain .
Germany
France .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
100
100
100
100
100
129.7
80.7
92.4
88.3
100.7
161.9
68.1
83.8
71.7
89.2
184.7
53.8
83.8
59.8
69.1
201.6
64.9
86.1
66.8
77.4
294
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
As you see, this table speaks for itself.
While industry in the principal capitalist countries
declined from year to year, compared with 1929, and
began to recover somewhat only in 1933—although still
far from reaching the level of 1929—industry in the
U.S.S.R. grew from year to year, experiencing an uninterrupted rise.
While industry in the principal capitalist countries
at the end of 1933 shows on the average a reduction of 25
per cent and more in volume of output compared with
1929, industrial output in the U.S.S.R. has more than
doubled during this period, i.e., it has increased more than
100 per cent. (Applause.)
Judging by this table, it may seem that of these four
capitalist countries Britain is in the most favourable
position. But that is not quite true. If we compare industry in these countries with its pre-war level we get
a somewhat different picture.
Here is the corresponding table:
Volume of Industrial Output
(Per cent of pre-war level)
U.S.S.R .
U.S.A. .
Britain .
Germany
France .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1913
1929
1930
1931
100
100
100
100
100
194.3
170.2
99.1
113.0
139.0
252.1
137.3
91.5
99.8
140.0
314.7
115.9
83.0
81.0
124.0
1932
1933
359.0 391.9
91.4 110.2
82.5 85.2
67.6 75.4
96.1 107.6
As you see, industry in Britain and Germany has not
yet reached the pre-war level, while the United States
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
295
and France have exceeded it by several per cent, and the
U.S.S.R. has raised, increased its industrial output during this period by more than 290 per cent over the prewar level. (Applause.)
But there is still another conclusion to be drawn from
these tables.
While industry in the principal capitalist countries
declined steadily after 1930, and particularly after 1931,
and reached its lowest point in 1932, in 1933 it began
to recover and pick up somewhat. If we take the monthly
returns for 1932 and 1933 we find still further confirmation of this conclusion; for they show that, despite
fluctuations of output in the course of 1933, industry in
these countries revealed no tendency to fall to the lowest
point reached in the summer of 1932.
What does this mean?
It means that, apparently, industry in the principal
capitalist countries had already reached the lowest point
of decline and did not return to it in the course of 1933.
Some people are inclined to ascribe this phenomenon
exclusively to the influence of artificial factors, such
as the war-inflation boom. There can be no doubt that the
war-inflation boom plays no small part in it. This is particularly true in regard to Japan, where this artificial
factor is the principal and decisive force stimulating
a certain revival in some industries, mainly war industries. But it would be a gross mistake to explain everything by the war-inflation boom. Such an explanation
would be incorrect, if only for the reason that the changes
in industry which I have described are observed, not
in separate and chance areas, but in all, or nearly all,
the industrial countries, including the countries with a
296
J. V. S T A L I N
stable currency. Apparently, in addition to the warinflation boom, the internal economic forces of capitalism are also operating here.
Capitalism has succeeded in somewhat alleviating
the position of industry at the expense of the workers, by
heightening their exploitation through increased intensity of labour; at the expense of the farmers, by pursuing
a policy of paying the lowest prices for the products of
their labour, for foodstuffs and, partly, raw materials;
and at the expense of the peasants in the colonies and
economically weak countries, by still further forcing down
prices for the products of their labour, principally for
raw materials, and also for foodstuffs.
Does this mean that we are witnessing a transition
from a crisis to an ordinary depression, to be followed by
a new upswing and flourishing of industry? No, it does
not. At any rate, at the present time there is no evidence,
direct or indirect, to indicate the approach of an upswing
of industry in the capitalist countries. More than that,
judging by all things, there can be no such evidence, at
least in the near future. There can be no such evidence,
because all the unfavourable conditions which prevent
industry in the capitalist countries from making any
considerable advance continue to operate. I have in mind
the continuing general crisis of capitalism, in the circumstances of which the economic crisis is proceeding; the
chronic under-capacity operation of the enterprises;
chronic mass unemployment; the interweaving of the
industrial crisis with an agricultural crisis; the absence
of tendencies towards a more or less serious renewal of
fixed capital, which usually heralds the approach of
a boom, etc., etc.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
297
Evidently, what we are witnessing is a transition
from the lowest point of decline of industry, from the
lowest point of the industrial crisis, to a depression—not
an ordinary depression, but a depression of a special kind,
which does not lead to a new upswing and flourishing of
industry, but which, on the other hand, does not force
industry back to the lowest point of decline.
2. THE GROWING TENSION IN THE POLITICAL
SITUATION IN THE CAPITALIST COUNTRIES
A result of the protracted economic crisis has been
an unprecedented increase in the tension of the political
situation in the capitalist countries, both within those
countries and in their mutual relations.
The intensified struggle for foreign markets, the
abolition of the last vestiges of free trade, the prohibitive tariffs, the trade war, the foreign currency war,
dumping, and many other analogous measures which
demonstrate extreme nationalism in economic policy
have strained to the utmost the relations among the various countries, have created the basis for military conflicts, and have put war on the order of the day as a
means for a new redivision of the world and of spheres of
influence in favour of the stronger states.
Japan’s war against China, the occupation of Manchuria, Japan’s withdrawal from the League of Nations,
and her advance in North China, have made the situation
still more tense. The intensified struggle for the Pacific
and the growth of naval armaments in Japan, the United
States, Britain and France are results of this increased
tension.
298
J. V. S T A L I N
Germany’s withdrawal from the League of Nations
and the spectre of revanchism have further added to the
tension and have given a fresh impetus to the growth of
armaments in Europe.
It is not surprising that bourgeois pacifism is now
dragging out a miserable existence, and that idle talk of
disarmament is giving way to “business-like” talk about
armament and rearmament.
Once again, as in 1914, the parties of bellicose imperialism, the parties of war and revanchism are coming
to the foreground.
Quite clearly things are heading for a new war.
The internal situation of the capitalist countries,
in view of the operation of these same factors, is becoming still more tense. Four years of industrial crisis have
exhausted the working class and reduced it to despair.
Four years of agricultural crisis have utterly ruined the
poorer strata of the peasantry, not only in the principal
capitalist countries, but also—and particularly—in the
dependent and colonial countries. It is a fact that,
notwithstanding all kinds of statistical trickery designed
to minimise unemployment, the number of unemployed,
according to the official figures of bourgeois institutions, reaches 3,000,000 in Britain, 5,000,000 in Germany
and 10,000,000 in the United States, not to mention the
other European countries. Add to this the more than ten
million partially unemployed; add the vast masses of
ruined peasants—and you will get an approximate picture of the poverty and despair of the labouring masses.
The masses of the people have not yet reached the stage
when they are ready to storm capitalism; but the idea
of storming it is maturing in the minds of the masses—
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
299
of that there can hardly be any doubt. This is eloquently
testified to by such facts as, say, the Spanish revolution
which overthrew the fascist regime, and the expansion
of the Soviet districts in China, which the united counter-revolution of the Chinese and foreign bourgeoisie
is unable to stop.
This, indeed, explains why the ruling classes in the
capitalist countries are so zealously destroying or nullifying the last vestiges of parliamentarism and bourgeois
democracy which might be used by the working class in
its struggle against the oppressors, why they are driving
the Communist Parties underground and resorting to openly terrorist methods of maintaining their dictatorship.
Chauvinism and preparation of war as the main elements of foreign policy; repression of the working class
and terrorism in the sphere of home policy as a necessary
means for strengthening the rear of future war fronts—
that is what is now particularly engaging the minds of
contemporary imperialist politicians.
It is not surprising that fascism has now become the
most fashionable commodity among war-mongering bourgeois politicians. I am referring not only to fascism in
general, but, primarily, to fascism of the German type,
which is wrongly called national-socialism—wrongly because the most searching examination will fail to reveal
even an atom of socialism in it.
In this connection the victory of fascism in Germany
must be regarded not only as a symptom of the weakness
of the working class and a result of the betrayals of the
working class by Social-Democracy, which paved the
way for fascism; it must also be regarded as a sign of
the weakness of the bourgeoisie, a sign that the bourgeoi-
300
J. V. S T A L I N
sie is no longer able to rule by the old methods of parliamentarism and bourgeois democracy, and, as a consequence, is compelled in its home policy to resort to terrorist methods of rule—as a sign that it is no longer able
to find a way out of the present situation on the basis
of a peaceful foreign policy, and, as a consequence, is
compelled to resort to a policy of war.
Such is the situation.
As you see, things are heading towards a new imperialist war as a way out of the present situation.
Of course, there are no grounds for assuming that war
can provide a real way out. On the contrary, it is bound
to confuse the situation still more. More than that, it is
sure to unleash revolution and jeopardise the very existence of capitalism in a number of countries, as happened
in the course of the first imperialist war. And if, in
spite of the experience of the first imperialist war, the
bourgeois politicians clutch at war as a drowning man
clutches at a straw, that shows that they have got into a
hopeless muddle, have landed in an impasse, and are
ready to rush headlong into the abyss.
It is worth while, therefore, briefly to examine the
plans for the organisation of war which are now being
hatched in the circles of bourgeois politicians.
Some think that war should be organised against
one of the great powers. They think of inflicting a crushing defeat upon that power and of improving their
affairs at its expense. Let us assume that they organise
such a war. What may be the result of that?
As is well known, during the first imperialist war it
was also intended to destroy one of the great powers, viz.,
Germany, and to profit at its expense. But what was
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
301
the upshot of this? They did not destroy Germany; but
they sowed in Germany such a hatred of the victors,
and created such a rich soil for revenge, that even to
this day they have not been able to clear up the revolting mess they made, and will not, perhaps, be able to
do so for some time. On the other hand, the result they
obtained was the smashing of capitalism in Russia, the
victory of the proletarian revolution in Russia, and—
of course—the Soviet Union. What guarantee is there that
a second imperialist war will produce “better” results
for them than the first? Would it not be more correct to
assume that the opposite will be the case?
Others think that war should be organised against a
country that is weak in the military sense, but represents an extensive market—for example, against China,
which, it is claimed, cannot even be described as a state
in the strict sense of the word, but is merely “unorganised territory” which needs to be seized by strong states.
They evidently want to divide it up completely and
improve their affairs at its expense. Let us assume that
they organise such a war. What may be the result of that?
It is well known that at the beginning of the nineteenth century Italy and Germany were regarded in the
same light as China is today, i.e., they were considered
“unorganised territories” and not states, and they were
subjugated. But what was the result of that? As is well
known, it resulted in wars for independence waged by
Germany and Italy, and the union of these countries into
independent states. It resulted in increased hatred for
the oppressors in the hearts of the peoples of these countries, the effects of which have not been removed to this
day and will not, perhaps, be removed for some time.
302
J. V. S T A L I N
The question arises: What guarantee is there that the
same thing will not result from a war of the imperialists
against China?
Still others think that war should be organised by
a “superior race,” say, the German “race,” against an
“inferior race,” primarily against the Slavs; that only such
a war can provide a way out of the situation, for it is
the mission of the “superior race” to render the “inferior
race” fruitful and to rule over it. Let us assume that
this queer theory, which is as far removed from science
as the sky from the earth, let us assume that this queer
theory is put into practice. What may be the result of that?
It is well known that ancient Rome looked upon the
ancestors of the present-day Germans and French in the
same way as the representatives of the “superior race”
now look upon the Slav races. It is well known that ancient Rome treated them as an “inferior race,” as “barbarians,” destined to live in eternal subordination to the
“superior race,” to “great Rome”, and, between ourselves be it said, ancient Rome had some grounds for this,
which cannot be said of the representatives of the “superior race” of today. (Thunderous applause.) But what
was the upshot of this? The upshot was that the nonRomans, i.e., all the “barbarians,” united against the
common enemy and brought Rome down with a crash.
The question arises: What guarantee is there that the
claims of the representatives of the “superior race” of
today will not lead to the same lamentable results? What
guarantee is there that the fascist literary politicians
in Berlin will be more fortunate than the old and
experienced conquerors in Rome? Would it not be more
correct to assume that the opposite will be the case?
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
303
Finally, there are others who think that war should
be organised against the U.S.S.R. Their plan is to defeat the U.S.S.R., divide up its territory, and profit at
its expense. It would be a mistake to believe that it is
only certain military circles in Japan who think in this
way. We know that similar plans are being hatched in
the circles of the political leaders of certain states in
Europe. Let us assume that these gentlemen pass from
words to deeds. What may be the result of that?
There can hardly be any doubt that such a war would
be the most dangerous war for the bourgeoisie. It would
be the most dangerous war, not only because the peoples of the U.S.S.R. would fight to the death to preserve
the gains of the revolution; it would be the most dangerous war for the bourgeoisie for the added reason that
it would be waged not only at the fronts, but also in the
enemy’s rear. The bourgeoisie need have no doubt that
the numerous friends of the working class of the U.S.S.R.
in Europe and Asia will endeavour to strike a blow in
the rear at their oppressors who have launched a criminal war against the fatherland of the working class of all
countries. And let not Messieurs the bourgeoisie blame
us if some of the governments near and dear to them,
which today rule happily “by the grace of God,” are
missing on the morrow after such a war. (Thunderous
applause.)
There has already been one such war against the
U.S.S.R., if you remember, 15 years ago. As is well
known, the universally esteemed Churchill clothed that
war in a poetic formula—“the campaign of fourteen
states.” You remember, of course, that that war rallied all
the working people of our country into one united camp
304
J. V. S T A L I N
of self-sacrificing warriors, who with their lives defended
their workers’ and peasants’ motherland against the foreign
foe. You know how it ended. It ended in the ejection
of the invaders from our country and the formation of
revolutionary Councils of Action 72 in Europe. It can hardly be doubted that a second war against the U.S.S.R.
will lead to the complete defeat of the aggressors, to
revolution in a number of countries in Europe and in
Asia, and to the destruction of the bourgeois-landlord
governments in those countries.
Such are the war plans of the perplexed bourgeois
politicians.
As you see, they are not distinguished either for their
brains or for their valour. (Applause.)
But while the bourgeoisie chooses the path of war,
the working class in the capitalist countries, brought
to despair by four years of crisis and unemployment,
is beginning to take the path of revolution. This means
that a revolutionary crisis is maturing and will continue
to mature. And the more the bourgeoisie becomes entangled in its war schemes, the more frequently it resorts to
terrorist methods of fighting against the working class
and the labouring peasantry, the more rapidly will the
revolutionary crisis develop.
Some comrades think that, once there is a revolutionary
crisis, the bourgeoisie is bound to get into a hopeless
position, that its end is therefore a foregone conclusion,
that the victory of the revolution is thus assured, and that
all they have to do is to wait for the fall of the bourgeoisie and to draw up victorious resolutions. That is a profound mistake. The victory of the revolution never comes
of itself. It must be prepared for and won. And only a
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
305
strong proletarian revolutionary party can prepare for
and win victory. Moments occur when the situation is
revolutionary, when the rule of the bourgeoisie is shaken
to its very foundations, and yet the victory of the revolution does not come, because there is no revolutionary
party of the proletariat with sufficient strength and
prestige to lead the masses and to take power. It would
be unwise to believe that such “cases” cannot occur.
It is worth while in this connection to recall Lenin’s
prophetic words on revolutionary crisis, uttered at the
Second Congress of the Communist International 73:
“We have now come to the question of the revolutionary crisis as the basis of our revolutionary action. And here we must
first of all note two widespread errors. On the one hand, the bourgeois economists depict this crisis as mere ‘unrest,’ as the English
so elegantly express it. On the other hand, revolutionaries sometimes try to prove that the crisis is absolutely hopeless. That is a
mistake. There is no such thing as an absolutely hopeless situation. The bourgeoisie behaves like an arrogant plunderer who has
lost his head; it commits folly after folly, making the situation more acute and hastening its own doom. All this is true. But
it cannot be ‘proved’ that there is absolutely no chance of its
gulling some minority of the exploited with some kind of minor
concessions, or of suppressing some movement or uprising of
some section or another of the oppressed and exploited. To try
to ‘prove’ beforehand that a situation is ‘absolutely’ hopeless
would be sheer pedantry, or juggling with concepts and catchwords.
In this and similar questions the only real ‘proof’ is practice. The
bourgeois system all over the world is experiencing a most profound revolutionary crisis. The revolutionary parties must now
‘prove’ by their practical actions that they are sufficiently intelligent and organised, are sufficiently in contact with the exploited masses, are sufficiently determined and skilful, to utilise this
crisis for a successful and victorious revolution” (Lenin, Vol. XXV,
pp. 340-41 74 ).
306
J. V. S T A L I N
3. THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE U.S.S.R.
AND THE CAPITALIST STATES
It is easy to understand how difficult it has been for
the U.S.S.R. to pursue its peace policy in this atmosphere poisoned with the miasma of war schemes.
In the midst of this eve-of-war frenzy which has affected a number of countries, the U.S.S.R. during these years
has stood firmly and unshakably by its position of peace:
fighting against the menace of war; fighting to preserve
peace; meeting half-way those countries which in one way
or another stand for the preservation of peace; exposing
and tearing the masks from those who are preparing for
and provoking war.
What did the U.S.S.R. rely on in this difficult and
complicated struggle for peace?
a) On its growing economic and political might.
b) On the moral support of the vast masses of the
working class of all countries, who are vitally interested
in the preservation of peace.
c) On the prudence of those countries which for one
motive or another are not interested in disturbing the
peace, and which want to develop trade relations with
such a punctual client as the U.S.S.R.
d) Finally—on our glorious army, which stands ready
to defend our country against assaults from without.
It was on this basis that we began our campaign for
the conclusion with neighbouring states of pacts of nonaggression and of pacts defining aggression. You know
that this campaign has been successful. As you know,
pacts of non-aggression have been concluded not only
with the majority of our neighbours in the West and in
the South, including Finland and Poland, but also with
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
307
such countries as France and Italy; and pacts defining aggression have been concluded with those same neighbouring states, including the Little Entente. 75
On the same basis the friendship between the U.S.S.R.
and Turkey has been consolidated; relations between the
U.S.S.R. and Italy have improved and have indisputably become satisfactory; relations with France, Poland
and other Baltic states have improved; relations have been
restored with the U.S.A., China, etc.
Of the many facts reflecting the successes of the
peace policy of the U.S.S.R. two facts of indisputably material significance should be noted and singled
out.
1) I have in mind, firstly, the change for the better
that has taken place recently in the relations between
the U.S.S.R. and Poland and between the U.S.S.R. and
France. In the past, as you know, our relations with Poland were not at all good. Representatives of our state
were assassinated in Poland. Poland regarded itself
as the barrier of the Western states against the U.S.S.R.
All the various imperialists counted on Poland as their
advanced detachment in the event of a military attack
on the U.S.S.R. The relations between the U.S.S.R. and
France were no better. We need only recall the facts relating to the trial of the Ramzin group of wreckers in
Moscow to bring to mind a picture of the relations between the U.S.S.R. and France. But now those undesirable
relations are gradually beginning to disappear. They are
giving way to other relations, which can only be called
relations of rapprochement.
The point is not merely that we have concluded pacts
of non-aggression with these countries, although the pacts
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J. V. S T A L I N
in themselves are of very great importance. The point
is, primarily, that the atmosphere of mutual distrust
is beginning to be dissipated. This does not mean,
of course, that the incipient process of rapprochement
can be regarded as sufficiently stable and as guaranteeing ultimate success. Surprises and zigzags in
policy, for example in Poland, where anti-Soviet
sentiments are still strong, can as yet by no means be
regarded as out of the question. But the change for the
better in our relations, irrespective of its results in
the future, is a fact worthy of being noted and emphasised as a factor in the advancement of the cause of
peace.
What is the cause of this change? What stimulates it?
Primarily, the growth of the strength and might of
the U.S.S.R.
In our times it is not the custom to take any account
of the weak—only the strong are taken into account.
Furthermore, there have been some changes in the policy
of Germany which reflect the growth of revanchist and
imperialist sentiments in Germany.
In this connection some German politicians say that
the U.S.S.R. has now taken an orientation towards France
and Poland; that from an opponent of the Versailles
Treaty it has become a supporter of it, and that this change
is to be explained by the establishment of the fascist
regime in Germany. That is not true. Of course, we are
far from being enthusiastic about the fascist regime in
Germany. But it is not a question of fascism here, if only
for the reason that fascism in Italy, for example, has
not prevented the U.S.S.R. from establishing the best rela-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
309
tions with that country. Nor is it a question of any alleged change in our attitude towards the Versailles
Treaty. It is not for us, who have experienced the shame of
the Brest Peace, to sing the praises of the Versailles
Treaty. We merely do not agree to the world being flung into the abyss of a new war on account of that treaty. The
same must be said of the alleged new orientation taken
by the U.S.S.R. We never had any orientation towards
Germany, nor have we any orientation towards Poland
and France. Our orientation in the past and our orientation at the present time is towards the U.S.S.R., and
towards the U.S.S.R. alone. (Stormy applause.) And if
the interests of the U.S.S.R. demand rapprochement
with one country or another which is not interested in
disturbing peace, we adopt this course without hesitation.
No, that is not the point. The point is that Germany’s
policy has changed. The point is that even before the
present German politicians came to power, and particularly after they came to power, a contest began in Germany between two political lines: between the old policy,
which was reflected in the treaties between the U.S.S.R.
and Germany, and the “new” policy, which, in the main, recalls the policy of the former German Kaiser, who at one
time occupied the Ukraine and marched against Leningrad, after converting the Baltic countries into a place
d’armes for this march; and this “new” policy is obviously gaining the upper hand over the old policy. The
fact that the advocates of the “new” policy are gaining
supremacy in all things, while the supporters of the old
policy are in disfavour, cannot be regarded as an accident.
Nor can the well-known statement made by Hugenberg
310
J. V. S T A L I N
in London, and the equally well-known declarations
of Rosenberg, who directs the foreign policy of the ruling party in Germany, be regarded as accidents. That
is the point, comrades.
2) I have in mind, secondly, the restoration of normal relations between the U.S.S.R. and the United States
of America. There cannot be any doubt that this act
is of very great significance for the whole system of international relations. The point is not only that it improves
the chances of preserving peace, improves the relations between the two countries, strengthens trade connections
between them and creates a basis for mutual collaboration.
The point is that it forms a landmark between the old
position, when in various countries the U.S.A. was regarded as the bulwark for all sorts of anti-Soviet trends,
and the new position, when that bulwark has been voluntarily removed, to the mutual advantage of both countries.
Such are the two main facts which reflect the successes of the Soviet policy of peace.
It would be wrong, however, to think that everything went smoothly in the period under review. No, not
everything went smoothly, by a long way.
Recall, say, the pressure that was brought to bear
upon us by Britain, the embargo on our exports, the attempt to interfere in our internal affairs and to use this
as a probe—to test our power of resistance. True, nothing
came of this attempt, and later the embargo was lifted;
but the unpleasant after effect of these sallies still makes
itself felt in everything connected with the relations between Britain and the U.S.S.R., including the negotiations for a commercial treaty. And these sallies
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
311
against the U.S.S.R. must not be regarded as accidental. It is well known that a certain section of the British Conservatives cannot live without such sallies.
And precisely because they are not accidental we must
reckon that in the future, too, sallies will be made
against the U.S.S.R., all sorts of menaces will be created,
attempts will be undertaken to damage the U.S.S.R.,
etc.
Nor must we lose sight of the relations between the
U.S.S.R. and Japan, which stand in need of considerable improvement. Japan’s refusal to conclude a pact of
non-aggression, of which Japan stands in no less need
than the U.S.S.R., once again emphasises the fact that
all is not well in the sphere of our relations. The same
must be said of the rupture of negotiations concerning
the Chinese-Eastern Railway, due to no fault of the
U.S.S.R.; and also of the outrageous actions of the Japanese agents on the Chinese-Eastern Railway, the illegal arrests of Soviet employees on the Chinese-Eastern
Railway, etc. That is apart from the fact that one section of the military in Japan, with the obvious approval
of another section of the military, is openly advocating
in the press the necessity for a war against the U.S.S.R.
and the seizure of the Maritime Region; while the Japanese Government, instead of calling these instigators
of war to order, pretends that the matter is no concern
of its. It is not difficult to understand that such circumstances cannot but create an atmosphere of uneasiness
and uncertainty. Of course, we shall persistently continue
to pursue a policy of peace and strive for an improvement
in our relations with Japan, because we want to improve
these relations. But it does not depend entirely upon
312
J. V. S T A L I N
us. That is why we must at the same time take all
measures to guard our country against surprises, and
be prepared to defend it against attack. (Stormy applause.)
As you see, alongside the successes in our peace policy there are also a number of unfavourable features.
Such is the external situation of the U.S.S.R.
Our foreign policy is clear. It is a policy of preserving
peace and strengthening trade relations with all countries. The U.S.S.R. does not think of threatening anybody—let alone of attacking anybody. We stand for peace
and uphold the cause of peace. But we are not afraid
of threats and are prepared to answer the instigators
of war blow for blow. (Stormy applause.) Those who want
peace and seek business relations with us will always have
our support. But those who try to attack our country will
receive a crushing repulse to teach them in future not
to poke their pig snouts into our Soviet garden. (Thunderous applause.)
Such is our foreign policy. (Thunderous applause.)
The task is to continue to implement this policy
with unflagging perseverance and consistency.
II
THE CONTINUING PROGRESS OF THE NATIONAL
ECONOMY AND THE INTERNAL SITUATION
IN THE U.S.S.R.
I pass to the question of the internal situation in
the U.S.S.R.
From the point of view of the internal situation in
the U.S.S.R. the period under review presents a pic-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
313
ture of ever increasing progress, both in the sphere
of the national economy and in the sphere of culture.
This progress has not been merely a simple quantitative accumulation of strength. This progress is remarkable in that it has introduced fundamental changes into
the structure of the U.S.S.R., and has radically changed
the face of the country.
During this period, the U.S.S.R. has become radically transformed and has cast off the aspect of backwardness and medievalism. From an agrarian country it has
become an industrial country. From a country of small
individual agriculture it has become a country of collective, large-scale mechanised agriculture. From an ignorant, illiterate and uncultured country it has become—
or rather it is becoming—a literate and cultured country
covered by a vast network of higher, secondary and elementary schools functioning in the languages of the nationalities of the U.S.S.R.
New industries have been created: the production
of machine tools, automobiles, tractors, chemicals, motors, aircraft, harvester combines, powerful turbines and
generators, high-grade steel, ferro-alloys, synthetic rubber, nitrates, artificial fibre, etc., etc. (Prolonged applause.)
During this period thousands of new, fully up-to-date
industrial plants have been built and put into operation. Giants like the Dnieprostroi, Magnitostroi, Kuznetskstroi, Chelyabstroi, Bobriki, Uralmashstroi and
Krammashstroi have been built. Thousands of old plants
have been reconstructed and provided with modern technical equipment. New plants have been built, and industrial
314
J. V. S T A L I N
centres created, in the national republics and in the border regions of the U.S.S.R.: in Byelorussia, in the
Ukraine, in the North Caucasus, in Transcaucasia, in
Central Asia, in Kazakhstan, in Buryat-Mongolia, in
Tataria, in Bashkiria, in the Urals, in Eastern and Western Siberia, in the Far East, etc.
More than 200,000 collective farms and 5,000 state
farms have been organised, with new district centres and
industrial centres serving them.
New large towns, with large populations, have sprung
up in what were almost uninhabited places. The old towns
and industrial centres have grown enormously.
The foundations have been laid for the Urals-Kuznetsk Combine, which unites the coking coal of Kuznetsk
with the iron ore of the Urals. Thus, we may consider that
the dream of a new metallurgical base in the East has
become a reality.
The foundations for a powerful new oil base have
been laid in areas of the western and southern slopes
of the Urals range—in the Urals region, Bashkiria and
Kazakhstan.
It is obvious that the huge capital investments of
the state in all branches of the national economy, amounting in the period under review to over 60,000 million
rubles, have not been spent in vain, and are already beginning to bear fruit.
As a result of these achievements the national income of the U.S.S.R. has increased from 29,000 million
rubles in 1929 to 50,000 million in 1933; whereas during
the same period there has been an enormous decline in
the national income of all the capitalist countries without exception.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
315
Naturally, all these achievements and all this progress were bound to lead—and actually have led—to the
further consolidation of the internal situation in the
U.S.S.R.
How was it possible for these colossal changes to
take place in a matter of three or four years on the territory of a vast state with a backward technique and a
backward culture? Was it not a miracle? It would have
been a miracle if this development had taken place on the
basis of capitalism and individual small farming. But it
cannot be described as a miracle if we bear in mind that
this development took place on the basis of expanding
socialist construction.
Naturally, this enormous progress could take place
only on the basis of the successful building of socialism;
on the basis of the socially organised work of scores of
millions of peoples; on the basis of the advantages which
the socialist system of economy has over the capitalist
and individual peasant system.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the colossal progress in the economy and culture of the U.S.S.R. during
the period under review has at the same time meant the
elimination of the capitalist elements and the relegation
of individual peasant economy to the background. It is
a fact that the socialist system of economy in the sphere
of industry now constitutes 99 per cent of the total;
and in agriculture, according to the area sown to grain
crops, it constitutes 84.5 per cent of the total, whereas individual peasant economy accounts for only 15.5 per
cent.
It follows, then, that capitalist economy in the
U.S.S.R. has already been eliminated and that the indi-
316
J. V. S T A L I N
vidual peasant sector in the countryside has been relegated to a secondary position.
At the time when the New Economic Policy was being
introduced, Lenin said that there were elements of five
forms of social and economic structure in our country:
1) patriarchal economy (largely natural economy); 2)
small-commodity production (the majority of the peasants
who sell grain); 3) private capitalism; 4) state capitalism;
5) socialism. 76 Lenin considered that, of all these forms,
the socialist form must in the end gain the upper hand.
We can now say that the first, the third and the fourth
forms of social and economic structure no longer exist;
the second form has been forced into a secondary position,
while the fifth form—the socialist form of social and
economic structure—now holds undivided sway and is
the sole commanding force in the whole national economy.
(Stormy and prolonged applause.)
Such is the result.
In this result is contained the basis of the stability
of the internal situation in the U.S.S.R., the basis of the
firmness of its front and rear positions in the circumstances of the capitalist encirclement.
Let us pass to an examination of the concrete material relating to various questions of the economic and political situation in the Soviet Union.
FROM MARX
TO MAO
NOT FOR
COMMERCIAL
DISTRIBUTION
1. THE PROGRESS OF INDUSTRY
Of all branches of our national economy, the one
that has grown most rapidly is industry. During the period under review, i.e., beginning with 1930, our industry has more than doubled, namely, it has increased by
317
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
101.6 per cent; and compared with the pre-war level
it has grown almost four-fold, namely, by 291.9 per
cent.
This means that our industrialisation has been going
ahead at full speed.
As a result of the rapid growth of industrialisation
the output of industry has advanced to first place in the
gross output of the whole national economy.
Here is the corresponding table:
Relative Importance of Industry in the Gross Output
of the National Economy
(Per cent of total, in prices of 1926-27)
1. Industry (without
small industry) . .
2. Agriculture . . . .
1913
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
42.1
57.9
54.5
45.5
61.6
38.4
66.7
33.3
70.7
29.3
70.4
29.6
Total . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
This means that our country has definitely and finally become an industrial country.
Of decisive significance for the industrialisation of
the country is the growth of the output of instruments
and means of production in the total development of industry. The figures for the period under review show
that this item has become predominant in the gross output of industry.
318
J. V. S T A L I N
Here is the corresponding table:
Relative Importance of the Output of the Two Main
Branches of Large-Scale Industry
(In prices of 1926-27)
Gross output (in thousand million
rubles)
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
Total large-scale industry .
21.0
27.5
33.9
38.5
41.9
Of which:
Group “A”: instruments and
means of production . . .
Group “B”: consumer goods
10.2
10.8
14.5
13.0
18.8
15.1
22.0
16.5
24.3
17.6
Relative importance
Group “A”: instruments and
means of production . . .
Group “B”: consumer goods
Total . . . . .
(per cent of total)
48.5
51.5
100.0
52.6
47.4
55.4
44.6
57.0
43.0
58.0
42.0
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
As you see, this table requires no explanation.
In our country, which is still young as regards technical development, industry has a special task to fulfil.
It must reconstruct on a new technical basis not only itself, not only all branches of industry, including light industry, the food industry, and the timber industry; it
must also reconstruct all forms of transport and all
branches of agriculture. It can fulfil this task, however, only
if the machine-building industry—which is the main lever for the reconstruction of the national economy—occupies a predominant place in it. The figures for the period
under review show that our machine-building industry
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
319
has advanced to the leading place in the total volume of
industrial output.
Here is the corresponding table:
Relative Importance of Various Branches of Industry
(Per cent of total gross output)
U.S.S.R.
1913
1929
1932
1933
Coal . . . . . . . .
2.9
2.1
1.7
2.0
Coke . . . . . . . .
0.8
0.4
0.5
0.6
Oil (extraction) . . . .
1.9
1.8
1.5
1.4
Oil (refining)
2.3
2.5
2.9
2.6
No data
4.5
3.7
4.0
1.5
1.3
1.2
. . . .
Iron and steel . . . .
Non-ferrous metals . .
”
Machine building . . .
11.0
14.8
25.0
26.1
. . .
0.8
0.6
0.8
0.9
Cotton textiles . . . .
18.3
15.2
7.6
7.3
Woolen textiles . . . .
3.1
3.1
1.9
1.8
Basic chemicals
”
This means that our industry is developing on a sound
foundation, and that the key to reconstruction—the machine building industry—is entirely in our hands. All
that is required is that we use it skilfully and rationally.
The development of industry according to social sectors during the period under review present an interesting picture.
Here is the corresponding table:
320
J. V. S T A L I N
Gross Output of Large-Scale Industry
According to Social Sectors
(In prices of 1926-27)
(In million rubles)
1929
1930
1931
1932
Total output . . . . . . 21,025 27,477 33,903 38,464
Of which:
I. Socialised industry. . 20,891 27,402 No data 38,436
Of which:
a) State industry. . . . 19,143 24,989
” ”
35,587
b) Co-operative industry 1,748 2,413
” ”
2,849
II. Private industry . . .
134
75
” ”
28
(Per cent of total)
Total output . . . . . 100
100
100
100
Of which:
I. Socialised industry. . 99.4
99.7
No data
99.93
Of which:
a) State industry. . . . 91.1
90.9
” ”
92.52
b) Co-operative industry
8.3
8.8
” ”
7.41
II. Private industry . . .
0.6
0.3
” ”
0.07
1933
41,968
41,940
38,932
3,008
28
100
99.93
92.76
7.17
0.07
From this table it is evident that the capitalist elements in industry have already come to an end and that
the socialist system of economy is now the sole system,
holding a position of monopoly, in our industry. (Applause.)
However, of all the achievements of industry in the
period under review the most important is the fact that
it has succeeded in this period in training and moulding
thousands of new men and women, of new leaders of industry, whole strata of new engineers and technicians,
hundreds of thousands of young skilled workers who have
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
321
mastered the new technique and who have advanced our
socialist industry. There can be no doubt that without
these men and women industry could not have achieved
the successes it has achieved, and of which it has a right
to be proud. The figures show that in the period under
review about 800,000 more or less skilled workers have
graduated into industry from factory training schools,
and over 180,000 engineers and technicians from higher
technical educational institutions, other higher educational institutions and technical schools. If it is true that
the problem of cadres is a most important problem of
our development, then it must be admitted that our industry is beginning really to cope with this problem.
Such are the principal achievements of our industry.
It would be wrong, however, to think that industry
has only successes to record. No, it also has its defects.
The chief of these are:
a) The continuing lag of the iron and steel industry;
b) The lack of order in the non-ferrous metals industry;
c) The underestimation of the great importance of
developing the mining of local coal for the general fuel
supply of the country (Moscow Region, the Caucasus, the
Urals, Karaganda, Central Asia, Siberia, the Far
East, the Northern Territory, etc.);
d) The absence of proper attention to the question
of organising a new oil centre in areas of the Urals, Bashkiria, and the Emba;
e) The absence of serious concern for expanding the
production of goods for mass consumption both in the
light and food industries and in the timber industry;
f) The absence of proper attention to the question
of developing local industry;
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J. V. S T A L I N
g) An absolutely impermissible attitude towards the
question of improving the quality of output;
h) The continuing lag as regards increasing the productivity of labour, reducing the cost of production, and
adopting business accounting;
i) The fact that bad organisation of work and wages,
lack of personal responsibility in work, and wage equalisation have not yet been eliminated;
j) The fact that red-tape and bureaucratic methods
of management in the economic People’s Commissariats
and their bodies, including the People’s Commissariats
of the light and food industries, are still far from having
been eliminated.
The absolute necessity for the speedy elimination
of these defects scarcely needs any further explanation.
As you know, the iron and steel and non-ferrous metals
industries failed to fulfil their plan throughout the first
five-year plan period; nor have they fulfilled the plan
for the first year of the second five year plan period. If
they continue to lag behind they may become a brake
on industry and the cause of failures in its work. As
to the creation of new centres of the coal and oil industries, it is not difficult to understand that unless this
urgent task is fulfilled both industry and transport may
run aground. The question of goods for mass consumption
and of developing local industry, as well as the questions
of improving the quality of output, of increasing the productivity of labour, of reducing production costs, and
of adopting business accounting also need no further explanation. As for the bad organisation of work and wages,
and red-tape and bureaucratic methods of management,
the case of the Donbas and of the enterprises of the light
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
323
and food industries has shown that this dangerous disease is to be found in all branches of industry and hinders
their development. If it is not eliminated, industry will
be in a bad way.
Our immediate tasks are:
1) To maintain the present leading role of machine
building in the system of industry.
2) To eliminate the lag of the iron and steel industry.
3) To put the non-ferrous metals industries in
order.
4) To develop to the utmost the mining of local coal
in all the areas already known; to develop new coalfields (for example, in the Bureya district in the Far East),
and to convert the Kuzbas into a second Donbas. (Prolonged applause.)
5) Seriously to set about organising a centre of the
oil industry in the areas of the western and southern
slopes of the Urals range.
6) To expand the production of goods for mass consumption by all the economic People’s Commissariats.
7) To develop local Soviet industry; to give it the
opportunity of displaying initiative in the production
of goods for mass consumption and to give it all possible
assistance in the way of raw materials and funds.
8) To improve the quality of the goods produced; to
stop turning out incomplete sets of goods, and to punish
all those comrades, irrespective of their post, who violate or evade Soviet laws concerning the quality and
completeness of sets of goods.
9) To secure a systematic increase in the productivity of labour, a reduction in production costs, and the
adoption of business accounting.
324
J. V. S T A L I N
10) To put an end to lack of personal responsibility
in work and to wage equalisation.
11) To eliminate red-tape and bureaucratic methods
of management in all the departments of the economic
Commissariats, and to check systematically the fulfilment of the decisions and instructions of the directing
centres by the subordinate bodies.
2. THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE
Development in the sphere of agriculture has proceeded somewhat differently. In the period under review
progress in the main branches of agriculture proceeded
many times more slowly than in industry, but nevertheless more rapidly than in the period when individual
farming predominated. In live stock farming, however,
there was even a reverse process—a decline in the number of livestock, and it was only in 1933, and then only
in pig breeding, that signs of progress were observed.
Evidently, the enormous difficulties of uniting the
scattered small peasant farms into collective farms, the
difficult task of creating a large number of big grain and livestock farms, starting almost from nothing, and, in general,
the period of reorganisation, when individual agriculture was
being remodelled and transferred to the new, collectivefarm basis, which required much time and considerable
outlay—all these factors inevitably predetermined both
the slow rate of progress of agriculture, and the relatively long period of decline in the number of livestock.
In point of fact, in agriculture the period under review was not so much one of rapid progress and power-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
325
ful upswing as one during which the conditions were created for such a progress and upswing in the near future.
If we take the figures for the increase in the area
under all crops, and separately the figures for industrial
crops, we get the following picture of the development
of agriculture during the period under review.
Area under All Crops in the U.S.S.R.
(In million hectares)
1913
1929
1930
1931
1932
Total crop area . . . 105.0
118.0
127.2
136.3
134.4 129.7
99.7 101.5
14.9 12.0
Of which:
a) Grain crops .
b) Industrial crops
c) Vegetables and
melons . . .
d) Fodder crops .
.
.
94.4
4.5
96.0
8.8
101.8
10.5
104.4
14.0
.
.
3.8
2.1
7.6
5.0
8.0
6.5
9.1
8.8
9.2
10.6
1933
8.6
7.3
Area under Industrial Crops in the U.S.S.R.
(In million hectares)
Cotton . .
Flax (long
Sugar-beet.
Oil seeds .
. . .
fibre)
. . .
. . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1913
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
0.69
1.02
0.65
2.00
1.06
1.63
0.77
5.20
1.58
1.75
1.04
5.22
2.14
2.39
1.39
7.55
2.17
2.51
1.54
7.98
2.05
2.40
1.21
5.79
These tables reflect the two main lines in agriculture:
1) The line of the greatest possible expansion of crop
areas in the period when the reorganisation of agriculture
was at its height, when collective farms were being formed
326
J. V. S T A L I N
in tens of thousands and were driving the kulaks from
the land, seizing the vacated land and taking charge of it.
2) The line of refraining from wholesale expansion
of crop areas; the line of passing from wholesale expansion of crop areas to improved cultivation of the land, to the
introduction of proper rotation of crops and fallow, to
an increase of the harvest yield and, if shown to be
necessary in practice, to a temporary reduction of crop areas.
As you know, the second line—the only correct line
in agriculture—was proclaimed in 1932, when the period of
reorganisation in agriculture was drawing to a close and
the question of increasing the harvest yield became one of
the fundamental questions of the progress of agriculture.
But the data on the growth of the crop areas cannot be
regarded as a fully adequate indication of the development of agriculture. It sometimes happens that while the
crop area increases, output does not increase, or even declines, because cultivation of the soil has deteriorated, and
the yield per hectare has fallen. In view of this, data on
crop areas must be supplemented by data on gross output.
Here is the corresponding table:
Gross Output of Grain and Industrial
Crops in the U.S.S.R.
(In million centners)
Grain crops
Raw cotton
Flax fibre
Sugar-beet.
Oil seeds .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1913
1929
1930
1931
801.0
7.4
3.3
109.0
21.5
717.4
8.6
3.6
62.5
35.8
835.4
11.1
4.4
140.2
36.2
694.8
12.9
5.5
120.5
51.0
1932
1933
698.7 898.0
12.7 13.2
5.0
5.6
65.6 90.0
45.5 46.0
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
327
It can be seen from this table that the years in which
the reorganisation of agriculture was at its height, viz.,
1931 and 1932, were the years of the greatest decrease
in the output of grain crops.
It follows, further, from this table that in the flax
and cotton areas, where the reorganisation of agriculture proceeded at a slower pace, flax and cotton
hardly suffered, and progressed more or less evenly
and steadily, while maintaining a high level of development.
Thirdly, it follows from this table that whereas there was
only a slight fluctuation in the output of oil seeds, and
a high level of development was maintained as compared
with the pre-war level, in the sugar-beet districts,
where the reorganisation of agriculture proceeded at the
most rapid rate, sugar beet farming, which was the
last to enter the period of reorganisation, suffered
its greatest decline in the last year of reorganisation,
viz., in 1932, when output dropped below the pre-war
level.
Lastly, it follows from this table that 1933, the first
year after the completion of the reorganisation period,
marks a turning-point in the development of grain and
industrial crops.
This means that from now on grain crops, in the first
place, and then industrial crops, will firmly and surely
achieve a mighty advance.
The branch of agriculture that suffered most in the
reorganisation period was livestock farming.
Here is the corresponding table:
328
J. V. S T A L I N
Livestock in the U.S.S.R.
(Million head)
1916
a) Horses . . . .
b) Large cattle .
c) Sheep and goats
d) Pigs . . . . .
.
.
.
.
. 35.1
. 58.9
. 115.2
. 20.3
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
34.0
30.2
68.1
52.5
147.2 108.8
20.9
13.6
26.2
47.9
77.7
14.4
19.6
40.7
52.1
11.6
16.6
38.6
50.6
12.2
It can be seen from this table that in the period under review there was not an improvement, but a continual decline in the quantity of livestock in the country
as compared with the pre-war level. It is obvious that
this table reflects, on the one hand, the fact that livestock farming was most of all dominated by big kulak
elements, and, on the other hand, the intense kulak agitation for the slaughter of livestock, which found favourable soil in the years of reorganisation.
Furthermore, it follows from this table that the
decline in the number of livestock began in the very first
year of reorganisation (1930) and continued right up to
1933. The decline was greatest in the first three years;
while in 1933, the first year after the termination of the
period of reorganisation, when the grain crops began to
make progress, the decline in the number of livestock
reached a minimum.
Lastly, it follows from this table that the reverse process has already commenced in pig breeding, and that
in 1933 signs of direct progress were already seen.
This means that the year 1934 can and must mark a
turning point towards progress in all branches of livestock farming.
329
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
How did the collectivisation of peasant farms develop in the period under review?
Here is the corresponding table:
Collectivisation
Number of collective farms
(thousands) . . . . . . .
Number of households in
collective farms (millions)
Per cent of peasant farms
collectivised . . . . . .
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
57.0
85.9
211.1 211.05 224.5
1.0
6.0
13.0
14.9
15.2
3.9
23.6
52.7
61.5
65.0
And what was the development as regards the areas
under grain crops according to sectors?
Here is the corresponding table:
Area under Grain Crops According to Sectors
Sectors
1. State farms . .
2. Collective farms
3. Individual peasant farms . . .
Total grain crop
area in the
U.S.S.R. . . .
1933
Per cent
of total
area in 1913
8.1
9.3
61.0 69.1
10.8
75.0
10.6
73.9
35.3 21.3
15.7
15.5
96.0 101.8 104.4 99.7 101.5
100.0
(In million hectares)
1929
1930
1931
1.5
3.4
2.9
29.7
91.1
69.2
1932
What do these tables show?
They show that the period of reorganisation in agriculture, during which the number of collective farms and
330
J. V. S T A L I N
the number of their members increased at a tempestuous pace, is now ended, that it was already ended in
1932.
Hence, the further process of collectivisation is a
process of the gradual absorption and re-education of the
remaining individual peasant farms and farmers by the
collective farms.
This means that the collective farms have triumphed
completely and irrevocably. (Stormy and prolonged applause.)
They show also that the state farms and collective
farms together control 84.5 per cent of the total area under grain in the U.S.S.R.
This means that the collective farms and state farms
together have become a force which determines the fate
of the whole of agriculture and of all its branches.
The tables further show that the 65 per cent of peasant farms united in collective farms control 73.9 per
cent of the total area under grain crops, whereas all the
individual peasant farms that remain, representing 35
per cent of the entire peasant population, control only
15.5 per cent of the total area under grain crops.
If we add to this fact that in 1933 the various deliveries to the state made by the collective farms amounted to more than 1,000 million poods of grain, while the
individual peasants, who fulfilled their plan 100 per
cent, delivered only about 130,000,000 poods; whereas
in 1929-30 the individual peasants delivered to the state
about 780,000,000 poods, and the collective farms not
more than 120,000,000 poods—then it becomes absolutely clear that during the period under review the collective farms and the individual peasants have complete-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
331
ly exchanged roles: the collective farms during this
period have become the predominant force in agriculture,
whereas the individual peasants have become a secondary force and are compelled to subordinate and adapt
themselves to the collective-farm system.
It must be admitted that the labouring peasantry,
our Soviet peasantry, has completely and irrevocably
taken its stand under the Red banner of socialism. (Prolonged applause.)
Let the Socialist-Revolutionary, Menshevik, and
bourgeois Trotskyite gossips chatter about the peasantry being counter-revolutionary by nature, about its mission to restore capitalism in the U.S.S.R., about its inability to serve as the ally of the working class in building socialism, and about the impossibility of building
socialism in the U.S.S.R. The facts show that these gentlemen slander the U.S.S.R. and the Soviet peasantry.
The facts show that our Soviet peasantry has quit the
shores of capitalism for good and is going forward, in alliance with the working class, to socialism. The facts show
that we have already laid the foundations of a socialist
society in the U.S.S.R., and it only remains for us to
erect the superstructures—a task which undoubtedly
is much easier than that of laying the foundations of
a socialist society.
The increase in crop area and in output is not the
only thing, however, that reflects the strength of the
collective farms and state farms. Their strength is reflected also in the increase in the number of tractors
at their disposal, in their increasing use of machinery.
There is no doubt that in this respect our collective farms
and state farms have gone a long way forward.
332
J. V. S T A L I N
Here is the corresponding table:
Number of Tractors Employed in Agriculture in the U.S.S.R.
(Allowance made for depreciation)
Number of tractors
in thousands
1929 1930 1931
1932
Capacity in thousands
of horse-power
1933
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
Total number of tractors
34.9 72.1 125.3 148.5 204.1 391.4 1,003.5 1,850.0 2,225.0 3,100.0
Of which:
a) In machine and
tractor stations . . .
2.4
31.1
63.3
74.8 122.3
b) In state
farms of all
systems . .
9.7
27.7
51.5
64.0
23.9
372.5
848.0 1,077.0 1,872.0
81.8 123.4
483.1
892.0 1,043.0 1,318.0
Thus, we have 204,000 tractors with a total of
3,100,000 H.P. working for the collective farms and state
farms. This force, as you see, is not a small one; it
is a force capable of pulling up all the roots of capitalism
in the countryside; it is a force twice as great as the number of tractors that Lenin once mentioned as a remote
prospect. 77
As regards the number of agricultural machines in
the machine and tractor stations and in the state farms
under the People’s Commissariat of State Farms, figures
are given in the following tables:
333
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
In Machine and Tractor Stations
1930
Harvester combines
(thousands) . . . .
Internal combustion and
steam engines (thousands) . . . . . . .
Complex and semi-complex threshers (thousands) . . . . . . .
Electric threshing installations . . . . .
MTS repair shops . . .
Motor lorries (thousands) . . . . . . .
Passenger motor-cars
(units) . . . . . . .
7 (units)
1931
1932
1933
0.1
2.2
11.5
0.1
4.9
6.2
17.6
2.9
27.8
37.0
50.0
168
104
0.2
17
268
770
1.0
191
551
1,220
1,283
1,933
6.0
245
13.5
2,800
In State Farms Controlled
by the People’s Commissariat of State Farms
Harvester combines
(thousands) . . . .
Internal combustion
and steam engines
(thousands) . . . . .
Complex and semicomplex threshers
(thousands) . . . .
Electric installations . .
Repair shops:
a) For capital repairs
b) For medium repairs
c) For running repairs
Motor lorries (thousands) . . . . . . .
Passenger motor-cars
(units) . . . . . . .
1930
1931
1.7
6.3
11.9
13.5
0.3
0.7
1.2
2.5
1.4
42
4.2
112
7.1
164
8.0
222
133
160
310
208
215
578
72
75
205
2.1
118
3.7
385
1932
6.2
625
1933
302
476
1,166
10.9
1,890
334
J. V. S T A L I N
I do not think that these figures require any explanation.
Of no little importance for the progress of agriculture was also the formation of the Political Departments
of the machine and tractor stations and state farms and
the sending of skilled personnel into agriculture. Everybody admits now that the personnel of the Political
Departments played a tremendous role in improving the
work of the collective farms and state farms. You know
that during the period under review the Central Committee of the Party sent more than 23,000 Communists to the
countryside to reinforce the cadres in agriculture. More
than 3,000 of them were sent to work in the land organs,
more than 2,000 to state farms, more than 13,000 to the
Political Departments of the machine and tractor stations,
and over 5,000 to the Political Departments of the state
farms.
The same must be said about the provision of new
engineering, technical and agronomic forces for the collective farms and state farms. As you know, more than
111,000 workers of this category were sent into agriculture
during the period under review.
During the period under review, over 1,900,000 tractor drivers, harvester-combine drivers and operators,
and automobile drivers were trained and sent to work in
the system under the People’s Commissariat of Agriculture alone.
During the same period more than 1,600,000 chairmen and members of management boards of collective
farms, brigade leaders for field work, brigade leaders
for livestock raising, and book-keepers were trained or
received additional training.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
335
This, of course, is not enough for our agriculture.
But still, it is something.
As you see, the state has done everything possible
to facilitate the work of the organs of the People’s
Commissariat of Agriculture and of the People’s Commissariat of State Farms in guiding collective-farm and statefarm development.
Can it be said that these possibilities have been properly used?
Unfortunately, it cannot.
To begin with, these People’s Commissariats are
more infected than others with the disease of red tape.
Decisions are made, but not a thought is given to checking their fulfilment, to calling to order those who disobey the instructions and orders of the leading bodies,
and to promoting honest and conscientious workers.
One would think that the existence of a huge number
of tractors and machines would impose upon the land
organs the obligation to keep these valuable machines
in good order, to see to their timely repair, to employ
them more or less efficiently. What is being done by them
in this respect? Unfortunately, very little. The maitenance of tractors and machines is unsatisfactory. Repairs are also unsatisfactory, because even to this day
there is a refusal to understand that the basis of repairs
is running and medium repairs, and not capital repairs.
As for the utilisation of tractors and machines, the unsatisfactory position in this respect is so clear and well
known that it needs no proof.
One of the immediate tasks in agriculture is to introduce proper rotation of crops and to secure the extension of clean fallow and the improvement of seeds in all
336
J. V. S T A L I N
branches of agriculture. What is being done in this respect? Unfortunately, very little as yet. The state of affairs in regard to grain and cotton seed is so muddled that
it will take a long time to put straight.
One of the effective means of increasing the yield of
industrial crops is to supply them with fertilisers. What
is being done in this respect? Very little as yet. Fertilisers are available, but the organs of the People’s
Commissariat of Agriculture fail to get them; and when
they do get them they do not see to it that they are delivered on time to the places where they are required and
that they are utilised properly.
In regard to the state farms, it must be said that they
still fail to cope with their tasks. I do not in the least underestimate the great revolutionising role of our state farms.
But if we compare the enormous sums the state has invested in the state farms with the actual results they have
achieved to date, we find an enormous discrepancy to the
disadvantage of the state farms. The principal reason for
the discrepancy is the fact that our state grain farms are
too unwieldy; the directors cannot manage such huge
farms. The state farms themselves are too specialised,
they have no rotation of crops and fallow land; they do
not include sectors for livestock raising. Evidently,
it will be necessary to split up the state farms and do away
with their excessive specialisation. One might think
that it was the People’s Commissariat of State Farms that
raised this question opportunely and succeeded in solving it. But that is not so. The question was raised
and settled on the initiative of people who were not connected in any way with the People’s Commissariat of State
Farms.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
337
Finally, there is the question of livestock farming.
I have already reported on the serious situation with regard to livestock. One might think that our land organs
would display feverish activity in an effort to put
an end to the crisis of livestock farming, that they would
sound the alarm, mobilise their personnel and tackle the
problem of livestock farming. Unfortunately, nothing
of the kind has happened, or is happening. Not only have
they failed to sound the alarm about the serious livestock situation, but, on the contrary, they try to gloss
over the question, and sometimes in their reports
even try to conceal from the public opinion of the
country the actual situation of livestock farming,
which is absolutely impermissible for Bolsheviks. To
hope, after this, that the land organs will be
able to put livestock farming on to the right road
and raise it to the proper level would be building on
sand. The whole Party, all our workers, Party and
non-Party, must take this matter in hand, bearing in
mind that the livestock problem today is of the
same prime importance as the grain problem—now successfully solved—was yesterday. There is no need
to prove that our Soviet people, who have overcome
many a serious obstacle in the path to the goal, will be
able to overcome this obstacle as well. (Thunderous
applause.)
Such is a brief and far from complete enumeration of
the defects which must be removed, and of the tasks
which must be fulfilled in the immediate future.
But the matter does not end with these tasks. There
are other tasks in agriculture, concerning which a few
words must be said.
338
J. V. S T A L I N
First of all, we must bear in mind that the old division of our regions into industrial regions and agrarian
regions has now become obsolete. We no longer have any
exclusively agrarian regions that would supply grain,
meat and vegetables to the industrial regions; just as we
no longer have any exclusively industrial regions that
would expect to obtain all necessary produce from outside, from other regions. Development is leading to
the point where all our regions will be more or less industrial, and they will become increasingly so as this development proceeds. This means that the Ukraine, the North
Caucasus, the Central Black Earth region, and other
formerly agrarian areas can no longer supply the industrial centres with as much produce as they supplied in the
past, because they have to feed their own towns and their
own workers, the number of which will be increasing.
But from this it follows that every region must develop
its own agricultural base, so as to have its own supply
of vegetables, potatoes, butter and milk, and, to some
extent, grain and meat, if it does not want to get into
difficulties. You know that this is quite practicable and
is already being done.
The task is to pursue this line to the end at all costs.
Further, we should note the fact that the familiar division
of our regions into consuming regions and producing regions is also beginning to lose its hard and fast character. This year such “consuming” regions as the Moscow and Gorky regions delivered nearly 80,000,000 poods
of grain to the state. This, of course, is no small item.
In the so-called consuming zone there are about 5,000,000
hectares of virgin soil, covered with scrub. It is well known
that the climate in this zone is not bad; precipitation is
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
339
ample, and droughts unknown. If this land were cleared
of scrub and a number of organisational measures were
undertaken, it would be possible to obtain a vast area
for grain crops, which with the usually high yield in
these localities could supply no less market grain than is
now supplied by the Lower or Middle Volga. This would
be a great help for the industrial centres in the north.
Evidently, the task is to develop large tracts under
grain crops in the areas of the consuming zone.
Finally, there is the question of combating drought
in the Trans-Volga area. Afforestation and the planting
of forest shelter belts in the eastern districts of the TransVolga area is of tremendous importance. As you know,
this work is already taking place, although it cannot be
said that it is being carried on with sufficient intensity. As
regards the irrigation of the Trans-Volga area—the
most important thing in combating drought—we must
not allow this matter to be indefinitely postponed. It
is true that this work has been held up some what by certain external circumstances which cause considerable
forces and funds to be diverted to other purposes. But now
there is no longer any reason why it should be further postponed. We cannot do without a large and absolutely
stable grain base on the Volga, one which will be independent of the vagaries of the weather and will provide
annually about 200,000,000 of marketable grain.
This is absolutely necessary, in view of the growth of the
towns on the Volga, on the one hand, and of the possibility of all sorts of complications in the sphere of
international relations, on the other.
The task is to set to work seriously to organise the
irrigation of the Trans-Volga area. (Applause.)
340
J. V. S T A L I N
3. THE RISE IN THE MATERIAL AND CULTURAL
STANDARD OF THE WORKING PEOPLE
We have thus depicted the situation of our industry
and agriculture, their development during the period under review and their state at the present moment.
To sum up, we have:
a) A mighty advance in production both in industry
and in the main branches of agriculture.
b) The final victory, on the basis of this advance,
of the socialist system of economy over the capitalist
system both in industry and in agriculture; the socialist
system has become the sole system in the whole of the
national economy, and the capitalist elements have been
ousted from all spheres of the national economy.
c) The final abandonment of small-commodity individual farming by the overwhelming majority of the
peasants; their uniting in collective farms on the basis
of collective labour and collective ownership of the means
of production; the complete victory of collective farming over small-commodity individual farming.
d) An ever-increasing process of expansion of the
collective farms through the absorption of individual
peasant farms, which are thus diminishing in number
month by month and are, in fact, being converted into an
auxiliary force for the collective farms and state farms.
Naturally, this historic victory over the exploiters could not but lead to a radical improvement in the
material standard of the working people and in their conditions of life generally.
The elimination of the parasitic classes has led to
the disappearance of the exploitation of man by man.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
341
The labour of the worker and the peasant is freed from
exploitation. The incomes which the exploiters used to
squeeze out of the labour of the people now remain in
the hands of the working people and are used partly for
the expansion of production and the enlistment of new
detachments of working people in production, and partly
for directly increasing the incomes of the workers and
peasants.
Unemployment, that scourge of the working class,
has disappeared. In the bourgeois countries millions of
unemployed suffer want and privation owing to lack
of work, whereas in our country there are no longer any
workers who have no work and no earnings.
With the disappearance of kulak bondage, poverty in
the countryside has disappeared. Every peasant, whether a collective farmer or an individual farmer, now has
the opportunity of living a human existence, provided
only that he wants to work conscientiously and not to be
a loafer, a tramp, or a despoiler of collective-farm property.
The abolition of exploitation, the abolition of unemployment in the towns, and the abolition of poverty in
the countryside are historic achievements in the material
condition of the working people that are beyond even the
dreams of the workers and peasants even in the most
“democratic” of the bourgeois countries.
The very appearance of our large towns and industrial centres has changed. An inevitable feature of the big
towns in bourgeois countries is the slums, the so-called
working-class districts on the outskirts of the towns—a
heap of dark, damp and dilapidated dwellings, mostly
of the basement type, where usually the poor live in
342
J. V. S T A L I N
filth and curse their fate. The revolution in the U.S.S.R.
has meant the disappearance of such slums. They have
been replaced by blocks of bright and well-built workers’
houses; in many cases the working-class districts of our
towns present a better appearance than the centre of the
town.
The appearance of the countryside has changed even
more. The old type of village, with the church in the
most prominent place, with the best houses—those of
the police officer, the priest, and the kulaks—in the foreground, and the dilapidated huts of the peasants in the
background, is beginning to disappear. Its place is being
taken by the new type of village, with its public farm
buildings, with its clubs, radio, cinemas, schools, libraries and crèches; with its tractors, harvester combines,
threshing machines and automobiles. The former important
personages of the village, the kulak-exploiter, the bloodsucking usurer, the merchant-speculator, the “little father” police officer, have disappeared. Now, the prominent
personages are the leading people of the collective farms
and state farms, of the schools and clubs, the senior tractor and combine drivers, the brigade leaders in field
work and livestock raising, and the best men and women
shock brigaders on the collective-farm fields.
The antithesis between town and country is disappearing. The peasants are ceasing to regard the town
as the centre of their exploitation. The economic and cultural bond between town and country is becoming stronger. The country now receives assistance from the town
and from urban industry in the shape of tractors, agricultural machinery, automobiles, workers, and funds.
And the countryside itself now has its own industry, in
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
343
the shape of the machine and tractor stations, repair
shops, all sorts of industrial undertakings of the collective farms, small electric power stations, etc. The cultural gulf between town and country is being bridged.
Such are the principal achievements of the working
people in the sphere of improving their material conditions, their everyday life, and their cultural standard.
On the basis of these achievements we have the following to record for the period under review:
a) An increase in the national income from 35,000
million rubles in 1930 to 50,000 million rubles in 1933.
In view of the fact that the income of the capitalist elements, including concessionaires, at the present time constitutes less than one half of one per cent of the total national income, almost the whole of the national income is
distributed among the workers and other employees, the
labouring peasants, the co-operatives, and the state.
b) An increase in the population of the Soviet Union
from 160,500,000 at the end of 1930 to 168,000,000 at
the end of 1933.
c) An increase in the number of workers and other
employees from 14,530,000 in 1930 to 21,883,000 in 1933.
The number of manual workers increased during this period from 9,489,000 to 13,797,000; the number of workers employed in large-scale industry, including transport,
increased from 5,079,000 to 6,882,000; the number of
agricultural workers increased from 1,426,000 to
2,519,000, and the number of workers and other employees
engaged in trade increased from 814,000 to 1,497,000.
d) An increase in the total of the wages paid to workers and other employees from 13,597 million rubles in
1930 to 34,280 million rubles in 1933.
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J. V. S T A L I N
e) An increase in the average annual wages of industrial workers from 991 rubles in 1930 to 1,519 rubles in
1933.
f) An increase in the social insurance fund for workers and other employees from 1,810 million rubles in
1930 to 4,610 million rubles in 1933.
g) The adoption of a seven-hour working day in all
surface industries.
h) State aid to the peasants by the organisation of
2,860 machine and tractor stations, involving an investment of 2,000 million rubles.
i) State aid to the peasants in the form of credits
to the collective farms amounting to 1,600 million rubles.
j) State aid to the peasants in the form of seed and
food loans amounting in the period under review to
262 million poods of grain.
k) State aid to the economically weaker peasants in
the shape of relief from taxation and insurance payments amounting to 370 million rubles.
As regards the cultural development of the country,
we have the following to record for the period under
review:
a) The introduction of universal compulsory elementary education throughout the U.S.S.R., and an
increase in literacy among the population from 67
per cent at the end of 1930 to 90 per cent at the end of
1933.
b) An increase in the number of pupils and students
at schools of all grades from 14,358,000 in 1929 to
26,419,000 in 1933, including an increase from 11,697,000
to 19,163,000 in the number receiving elementary education, from 2,453,000 to 6,674,000 in the number receiv-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
345
ing secondary education, and from 207,000 to 491,000
in the number receiving higher education.
c) An increase in the number of children receiving
pre-school education from 838,000 in 1929 to 5,917,000
in 1933.
d) An increase in the number of higher educational
institutions, general and special, from 91 in 1914 to
600 in 1933.
e) An increase in the number of scientific research
institutes from 400 in 1929 to 840 in 1933.
f) An increase in the number of clubs and similar institutions from 32,000 in 1929 to 54,000 in 1933.
g) An increase in the number of cinemas, cinema
installations in clubs, and mobile cinemas, from 9,800
in 1929 to 29,200 in 1933.
h) An increase in the circulation of newspapers from
12,500,000 in 1929 to 36,500,000 in 1933.
Perhaps it will not be amiss to point out that the
proportion of workers among the students in our higher
educational institutions is 51.4 per cent of the total,
and that of labouring peasants 16.5 per cent; whereas
in Germany, for instance, the proportion of workers
among the students in higher educational institutions
in 1932-33 was only 3.2 per cent of the total, and that
of small peasants only 2.4 per cent.
We must note as a gratifying fact and as an indication of the progress of culture in the countryside, the
increased activity of the women collective farmers in
social and organisational work. We know, for example, that about 6,000 women collective farmers are
chairmen of collective farms, more than 60,000 are members of management boards of collective farms, 28,000
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J. V. S T A L I N
are brigade leaders, 100,000 are team organisers, 9,000
are managers of collective-farm marketable livestock
sectors, and 7,000 are tractor drivers.
Needless to say, these figures are incomplete; but
even these figures quite clearly show the great progress of culture in the countryside. This fact, comrades, is of tremendous significance. It is of tremendous
significance because women form half the population
of our country; they constitute a huge army of workers;
and they are called upon to bring up our children, our
future generation, that is to say, our future. That is
why we must not permit this huge army of working
people to remain in darkness and ignorance! That is
why we must welcome the growing social activity of
the working women and their promotion to leading posts
as an indubitable sign of the growth of our culture.
(Prolonged applause.)
Finally, I must point out one more fact, but of a
negative character. I have in mind the intolerable fact
that our pedagogical and medical faculties are still
being neglected. This is a great defect bordering
on violation of the interests of the state. This defect
must be remedied without fail, and the sooner the
better.
4. THE PROGRESS OF TRADE TURNOVER
AND TRANSPORT
Thus we have:
a) An increase in the output of industry, including
goods for mass consumption.
b) An increase in the output of agriculture.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
347
c) A growth in the requirements and the demand
for produce and manufactured goods on the part of the
masses of the working people of town and country.
What more is needed to co-ordinate these conditions and to ensure that the entire mass of consumers receives the necessary goods and produce?
Some comrades think that these conditions alone
are sufficient for the economic life of the country to go
full steam ahead. That is a profound delusion. We can
imagine a situation in which all these conditions exist;
yet if the goods do not reach the consumers, economic
life—far from going full steam ahead—will, on the contrary, be dislocated and disorganised to its foundations.
It is high time we realised that in the last analysis goods
are produced not for the sake of producing them, but
for consumption. Cases have occurred where we have
had quite a quantity of goods and produce, but they
have not only not reached the consumers, they have
continued for years to wander in the bureaucratic backwaters of our so-called commodity-distribution network,
at a distance from the consumers. Naturally, under
these circumstances industry and agriculture lost all
stimulus to increase production; the commodity-distribution network became overstocked, while the workers
and peasants had to go without these goods and produce.
The result was a dislocation of the economic life of the
country, despite the existence of the goods and produce.
If the economic life of the country is to go full steam
ahead, and industry and agriculture are to have a stimulus for further in creasing their output, one more
condition is necessary, namely, well-developed trade
turnover between town and country, between the various
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J. V. S T A L I N
districts and regions of the country, between the various
branches of the national economy. The country must be
covered with a vast network of wholesale distribution bases,
shops and stores. There must be a ceaseless flow of goods
through these bases, shops and stores from the producer
to the consumer. The state trading system, the co-operative trading system, the local industries, the collective farms, and the individual peasants must be drawn
into this work.
This is what we call fully developed Soviet trade,
trade without capitalists, trade without speculators.
As you see, the expansion of Soviet trade is a very
urgent problem, which must be solved or further progress
will be rendered impossible.
And yet, in spite of the fact that this truth is perfectly obvious, in the period under review the Party
has had to over come a number of obstacles to the expansion of Soviet trade which could briefly be described
as the result of an aberration of the brain among a section of Communists on questions of the necessity and
importance of Soviet trade.
To begin with, there is still among a section of
Communists a supercilious, disdainful attitude towards
trade in general, and towards Soviet trade in particular.
These Communists, so-called, look upon Soviet trade as
a matter of secondary importance, not worth bothering
about, and those engaged in trade as being quite hopeless. Evidently, these people do not realise that their
supercilious attitude towards Soviet trade is not an
expression of Bolshevik views, but rather of the views
of impoverished aristocrats who are full of ambition but
lack ammunition. (Applause.) These people do not real-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
349
ise that Soviet trade is our own, Bolshevik work, and
that those employed in trade, including those behind
the counter—if only they work conscientiously—are doing
our revolutionary, Bolshevik work. (Applause.) It goes
without saying that the Party had to give those Communists, so-called, a slight dressing down and throw their
aristocratic prejudices on the rubbish heap. (Prolonged
applause.)
Further, we had to overcome prejudices of another
kind. I have in mind the Leftist chatter current among
a section of our functionaries to the effect that Soviet
trade is a superseded stage; that it is necessary to organise the direct exchange of products; that money will
soon be abolished, because it has become mere tokens;
that it is unnecessary to develop trade, since the direct
exchange of products is knocking at the door. It must
be observed that this Leftist petty-bourgeois chatter,
which plays into the hands of the capitalist elements
who are striving to sabotage the expansion of Soviet
trade, is current not only among a section of our “Red
professors,” but also among certain of our trading personnel. Of course, it is ridiculous and funny to hear
these people, who are incapable of organising the very
simple business of Soviet trade, chatter about their
readiness to organise the more complicated and difficult business of a direct exchange of products. But Don
Quixotes are called Don Quixotes precisely because
they lack the most elementary sense of reality. These
people, who are as far removed from Marxism as the sky
from the earth, evidently do not realise that we shall
use money for a long time to come, right up to the time
when the first stage of communism, i.e., the socialist
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J. V. S T A L I N
stage of development, has been completed. They do not
realise that money is the instrument of bourgeois economy
which the Soviet Government has taken over and adapted to the interests of socialism for the purpose of expanding Soviet trade to the utmost, and so preparing
the conditions necessary for the direct exchange of products. They do not realise that the direct exchange of
products can replace, and be the result of, only a perfectly organised system of Soviet trade, of which we have
not a trace as yet, and shall not have for some time.
Naturally, in trying to organise developed Soviet trade,
our Party found it necessary to give a dressing down to
these “Left” freaks as well, and to scatter their pettybourgeois chatter to the winds.
Further, we had to overcome among the people in
charge of trade the unhealthy habit of distributing goods
mechanically; we had to put a stop to their indifference
to the demand for a greater range of goods and to the
requirements of the consumers; we had to put an end
to the mechanical consignment of goods, to lack of personal responsibility in trade. For this purpose, regional and inter-district wholesale distribution bases
and tens of thousands of new shops and booths were
opened.
Further, we had to put an end to the monopoly position of the co-operatives in the market. In this connection we instructed all the People’s Commissariats to
start trade in the goods manufactured by the industries
under their control; and the People’s Commissariat of
Supplies was instructed to develop an extensive open
trade in agricultural produce. This has led, on the one
hand, to an improvement in co-operative trade through
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
351
emulation, and, on the other hand, to a drop in market
prices and to sounder conditions in the market.
A wide network of dining-rooms was established
which provide food at reduced prices (“public catering”).
Workers’ Supply Departments were set up in the factories, and all those who had no connection with the
factory were taken off the supply list; in the factories
under the control of the People’s Commissariat of Heavy
Industry alone, no less than 500,000 such persons had
to be removed from the list.
We have organised a single centralised bank for short
term credit—the State Bank, with its 2,200 district
branches capable of financing trade operations.
As a result of these measures we have the following
to record for the period under review:
a) An increase in the number of shops and trading
booths from 184,662 in 1930 to 277,974 in 1933.
b) A newly created network of regional wholesale
distribution bases, numbering 1,011, and inter-district
wholesale distribution bases, numbering 864.
c) A newly created network of Workers’ Supply Departments, numbering 1,600.
d) An increase in the network of shops for non-rationed sale of bread, which now exist in 330 towns.
e) An increase in the number of public dining-rooms,
which at the present time cater for 19,800,000 consumers.
f) An increase in state and co-operative trade turnover, including public dining-rooms, from 18,900 million rubles in 1930 to 49,000 million rubles in 1933.
It would be a mistake, however, to think that all
this expansion of Soviet trade is sufficient to satisfy
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J. V. S T A L I N
the requirements of our economy. On the contrary, it
is now becoming clearer than ever that the present state
of trade turnover cannot satisfy our requirements. Hence,
the task is to develop Soviet trade still further, to
draw local industry into this work, to increase collective-farm and peasant trade, and to achieve new and
decisive successes in the sphere of increasing Soviet
trade.
It must be pointed out, however, that we cannot
restrict ourselves merely to the expansion of Soviet
trade. While the development of our economy depends
upon the development of the trade turnover, upon the
development of Soviet trade, the development of Soviet
trade, in its turn, depends upon the development of
our transport, both rail and water transport, and motor
transport. It may happen that goods are available, that
all the possibilities exist for expanding trade turnover,
but transport cannot keep up with the development of
trade turnover and refuses to carry the freight. As you
know, this happens rather often. Hence, transport is
the weak spot which may be a stumbling-block, and indeed is perhaps already beginning to be a stumblingblock to the whole of our economy and, above all, to
our trade turnover.
It is true that railway transport has increased its
freight turnover from 133,900 million ton-kilometres in
1930 to 172,000 million ton-kilometres in 1933. But
that is too little, far too little for us, for our economy.
Water transport has increased its freight turnover
from 45,600 million ton-kilometres in 1930 to 59,900
million ton-kilometres in 1933. But that is too little,
far too little for our economy.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
353
I say nothing of motor transport, in which the number of automobiles (lorries and passenger cars) has increased from 8,800 in 1913 to 117,800 at the end of
1933. That is so little for our national economy that one
is ashamed even to mention it.
There can be no doubt that all these forms of transport could work much better if the transport system
did not suffer from the well-known disease called redtape methods of management. Hence, besides the need
to help transport by providing personnel and means,
our task is to root out the red-tape attitude in the administration departments of the transport system and to
make them more efficient.
Comrades, we have succeeded in solving correctly
the main problems of industry, which is now standing
firmly on its feet. We have also succeeded in solving
correctly the main problems of agriculture, and we can
say quite definitely that agriculture also is now standing firmly on its feet. But we are in danger of losing
all these achievements if our trade turnover begins to
be defective and if transport becomes a fetter on our
feet. Hence, the task of expanding trade turnover and of
decisively improving transport is an immediate and urgent
problem which must be solved or we cannot go forward.
III
THE PARTY
I pass to the question of the Party.
The present congress is taking place under the flag
of the complete victory of Leninism, under the flag of
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J. V. S T A L I N
the liquidation of the remnants of the anti-Leninist
groups.
The anti-Leninist group of Trotskyites has been
smashed and scattered. Its organisers are now to be
found in the backyards of the bourgeois parties abroad.
The anti-Leninist group of the Right deviators has
been smashed and scattered. Its organisers have long
ago renounced their views and are now trying in every
way to expiate the sins they committed against the
Party.
The groups of nationalist deviators have been
smashed and scattered. Their organisers have either completely merged with the interventionist émigrés, or else
they have recanted.
The majority of the adherents to these anti-revolutionary groups had to admit that the line of the Party
was correct and they have capitulated to the Party.
At the Fifteenth Party Congress 78 it was still necessary to prove that the Party line was correct and to
wage a struggle against certain anti-Leninist groups;
and at the Sixteenth Party Congress we had to deal the
final blow to the last adherents of these groups. At
this congress, however, there is nothing to prove and,
it seems, no one to fight. Everyone sees that the line
of the Party has triumphed. (Thunderous applause.)
The policy of industrialising the country has triumphed. Its results are obvious to everyone. What
arguments can be advanced against this fact?
The policy of eliminating the kulaks and of complete collectivisation has triumphed. Its results are also
obvious to every one. What arguments can be advanced
against this fact?
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
355
The experience of our country has shown that it is
fully possible for socialism to achieve victory in one
country taken separately. What arguments can be advanced against this fact?
It is evident that all these successes, and primarily
the victory of the five-year plan, have utterly demoralised and smashed all the various anti-Leninist groups.
It must be admitted that the Party today is united
as it has never been before. (Stormy and prolonged applause.)
1. QUESTIONS OF IDEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL
LEADERSHIP
Does this mean, however, that the fight is ended, and
that the offensive of socialism is to be discontinued as
superfluous?
No, it does not.
Does it mean that all is well in our Party, that there
will be no more deviations in the Party, and that, therefore, we may now rest on our laurels?
No, it does not.
We have smashed the enemies of the Party, the opportunists of all shades, the nationalist deviators of all
kinds. But remnants of their ideology still live in the
minds of individual members of the Party, and not infrequently they find expression. The Party must not be
regarded as something isolated from the people who
surround it. It lives and works in its environment. It
is not surprising that at times unhealthy moods penetrate
into the Party from outside. And the ground for such
moods undoubtedly exists in our country, if only for
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J. V. S T A L I N
the reason that there still exist in town and country
certain intermediary strata of the population who constitute a medium which breeds such moods.
The Seventeenth Conference of our Party 79 declared
that one of the fundamental political tasks in fulfilling
the Second Five-Year Plan is “to overcome the survivals of capitalism in economic life and in the minds of
people.” That is an absolutely correct idea. But can we
say that we have already overcome all the survivals
of capitalism in economic life? No, we cannot say that.
Still less can we say that we have overcome the survivals of capitalism in the minds of people. We cannot
say that, not only because in development the minds of
people lag behind their economic position, but also
because the capitalist encirclement still exists, which
endeavours to revive and sustain the survivals of capitalism in the economic life and in the minds of the people
of the U.S.S.R., and against which we Bolsheviks must
always keep our powder dry.
Naturally, these survivals cannot but be a favourable
ground for a revival of the ideology of the defeated antiLeninist groups in the minds of individual members
of our Party. Add to this the not very high theoretical
level of the majority of our Party members, the inadequate ideological work of the Party bodies, and the fact
that our Party functionaries are overburdened with purely practical work, which deprives them of the opportunity of augmenting their theoretical knowledge, and
you will understand the origin of the confusion on a
number of questions of Leninism that exists in the minds
of individual Party members, a confusion which not
infrequently penetrates into our press and helps to re-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
357
vive the survivals of the ideology of the defeated antiLeninist groups.
That is why we cannot say that the fight is ended
and that there is no longer any need for the policy of
the socialist offensive.
It would be possible to take a number of questions
of Leninism and demonstrate by means of them how
tenaciously the survivals of the ideology of the defeated
anti-Leninist groups continue to exist in the minds
of certain Party members.
Take, for example, the question of building a classless socialist society. The Seventeenth Party Conference
declared that we are advancing towards the formation
of a classless socialist society. Naturally, a classless
society cannot come of its own accord, as it were. It
has to be achieved and built by the efforts of all the
working people, by strengthening the organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat, by intensifying the class
struggle, by abolishing classes, by eliminating the remnants of the capitalist classes, and in battles with enemies, both internal and external.
The point is clear, one would think.
And yet, who does not know that the enunciation
of this clear and elementary thesis of Leninism has given rise to not a little confusion in the minds of a section of Party members and to unhealthy sentiments
among them? The thesis that we are advancing towards
a classless society—put forward as a slogan—was interpreted by them to mean a spontaneous process. And they
began to reason in this way: If it is a classless society,
then we can relax the class struggle, we can relax the
dictatorship of the proletariat, and get rid of the state
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J. V. S T A L I N
altogether, since it is fated to wither away soon in any
case. And they fell into a state of foolish rapture, in
the expectation that soon there would be no classes,
and therefore no class struggle, and therefore no cares
and worries, and therefore it is possible to lay down one’s
arms and go to bed—to sleep in expectation of the advent of a classless society. (General laughter.)
There can be no doubt that this confusion of mind
and these sentiments are exactly like the well-known
views of the Right deviators, who believed that the old
must automatically grow into the new, and that one
fine day we shall wake up and find ourselves in a socialist society.
As you see, remnants of the ideology of the defeated
anti-Leninist groups are capable of revival, and are far
from having lost their vitality.
Naturally, if this confusion of views and these nonBolshevik sentiments obtained a hold over the majority of our Party, the Party would find itself demobilised and disarmed.
Let us take, further, the question of the agricultural artel and the agricultural commune. Everybody admits now that under present conditions the artel is the
only correct form of the collective-farm movement. And
that is quite understandable: a) the artel correctly combines the personal, everyday interests of the collective
farmers with their public interests; b) the artel successfully adapts personal, everyday interests to public interests, and thereby helps to educate the individual
peasants of yesterday in the spirit of collectivism.
Unlike the artel, where only the means of production
are socialised, the communes, until recently, socialised
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
359
not only the means of production, but also everyday
life of every member of the commune; that is to say,
the members of a commune, unlike the members of an
artel, did not individually own poultry, small livestock,
a cow, grain, or household land. This means that in the
commune the personal, everyday interests of the members have not so much been taken into account and combined with the public interests as they have been eclipsed
by the latter in the interests of petty-bourgeois equalisation. It is clear that this is the weakest side of the
commune. This indeed explains why communes are not
widespread, why there are but a few score of them in
existence. For the same reason the communes, in order
to maintain their existence and save themselves from
going to pieces, have been compelled to abandon the
system of socialising everyday life; they are beginning to work on the basis of the workday unit, and have
begun to distribute grain among their members, to permit their members to own poultry, small livestock, a
cow, etc. But from this it follows that, in fact, the commune has gone over to the position of the artel. And there
is nothing bad in that, because it is necessary in the interests of the sound development of the mass collectivefarm movement.
This does not mean, of course, that the commune is
not needed at all, and that it no longer represents a higher form of the collective-farm movement. No, the commune is needed, and it is, of course, a higher form of
the collective-farm movement. This applies, however,
not to the present commune, which arose on the basis
of undeveloped technique and of a shortage of produce,
and which is itself going over to the position of the
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J. V. S T A L I N
artel; it applies to the commune of the future, which will
arise on the basis of a more developed technique and of
an abundance of produce. The present agricultural
commune arose on the basis of an underdeveloped
technique and a shortage of produce. This indeed explains why it practised equalisation and took little account of the personal, everyday interests of its members,
as a result of which it is now being compelled to go over
to the position of the artel, in which the personal and
public interests of the collective farmers are rationally
combined. The future communes will arise out of developed and prosperous artels. The future agricultural
commune will arise when the fields and farms of the
artel have an abundance of grain, cattle, poultry, vegetables, and all other produce; when the artels have mechanised laundries, modern kitchens and dining-rooms,
mechanised bakeries, etc.; when the collective farmer
sees that it is more to his advantage to get meat and
milk from the collective farm’s meat and dairy department than to keep his own cow and small livestock;
when the woman collective farmer sees that it is more
to her advantage to take her meals in the dining-room,
to get her bread from the public bakery, and to have her
linen washed in the public laundry, than to do all these
things herself. The future commune will arise on the
basis of a more developed technique and of a more developed artel, on the basis of an abundance of products.
When will that be? Not soon, of course. But it will take
place. It would be criminal artificially to accelerate the
process of transition from the artel to the future commune. That would confuse the whole issue, and would facilitate the work of our enemies. The transition from
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
361
the artel to the future commune must proceed gradually,
to the extent that all the collective farmers become convinced that such a transition is necessary.
That is how matters stand with regard to the question
of the artel and the commune.
One would think that this was clear and almost
elementary.
And yet there is a fair amount of confusion on this
question among a section of Party members. There are
those who think that by declaring the artel to be the
fundamental form of the collective-farm movement the
Party has drifted away from socialism, has retreated
from the commune, from the higher form of the collective-farm movement, to a lower form. Why, one may ask?
Because, it is suggested, there is no equality in the artel, since differences in the requirements and in the personal, everyday life of the members of the artel are preserved; whereas in the commune there is equality, because the requirements and the personal, everyday life
of its members have been made equal. But, firstly,
we no longer have any communes in which there is levelling, equalisation of requirements and personal, everyday
life. Practice has shown that the communes would
certainly have been doomed had they not abandoned
equalisation and had they not in fact gone over to the
position of artels. Consequently, there is no point in
referring to what no longer exists. Secondly, every
Leninist knows, if he is a real Leninist, that equalisation in the sphere of requirements and personal,
everyday life is a reactionary petty-bourgeois absurdity
worthy of some primitive sect of ascetics, but not of
a socialist society organised on Marxist lines; for we
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J. V. S T A L I N
cannot expect all people to have the same requirements
and tastes, and all people to mould their personal, everyday life on the same model. And, finally, are not
differences in requirements and in personal, everyday
life still preserved among the workers? Does that mean
that workers are more remote from socialism than members of agricultural communes?
These people evidently think that socialism calls
for equalisation, for levelling the requirements and
personal, everyday life of the members of society. Needless to say, such an assumption has nothing in common
with Marxism, with Leninism. By equality Marxism
means, not equalisation of personal requirements and
everyday life, but the abolition of classes, i.e., a) the
equal emancipation of all working people from exploitation after the capitalists have been overthrown and
expropriated; b) the equal abolition for all of private
property in the means of production after they have
been converted into the property of the whole of society; c) the equal duty of all to work according to their
ability, and the equal right of all working people to
receive in return for this according to the work performed (socialist society); d) the equal duty of all to work
according to their ability, and the equal right of all
working people to receive in return for this according
to their needs (communist society). Moreover, Marxism
p r o c e e d s f r o m t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t p e o p l e ’s t a s t e s
and requirements are not, and cannot be, identical
and equal in regard to quality or quantity, whether
in the period of socialism or in the period of communism.
There you have the Marxist conception of equality.
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363
Marxism has never recognised, and does not recognise,
any other equality.
To draw from this the conclusion that socialism calls
for equalisation, for the levelling of the requirements
of the members of society, for the levelling of their
tastes and of their personal, everyday life—that according to the Marxist plan all should wear the same clothes
and eat the same dishes in the same quantity—is to utter vulgarities and to slander Marxism.
It is time it was understood that Marxism is an
enemy of equalisation. Already in the Manifesto of the
Communist Party Marx and Engels scourged primitive
utopian socialism and termed it reactionary because it
preached “universal asceticism and social levelling in
its crudest form.” 80 In his Anti-Dühring Engels devoted
a whole chapter to a withering criticism of the “radical
equalitarian socialism” put forward by Dühring in opposition to Marxist socialism.
“. . . The real content of the proletarian demand for equality,”
said Engels, “is the demand for the abolition of classes. Any demand
for equality which goes beyond that, of necessity passes into absurdity.” 81
Lenin said the same thing:
“Engels was a thousand times right when he wrote that to
conceive equality as meaning anything beyond the abolition of
classes is a very stupid and absurd prejudice. Bourgeois professors
have tried to make use of the concept of equality to accuse us of
wanting to make all men equal to one another. They have tried
to accuse the Socialists of this absurdity, which they themselves
invented. But in their ignorance they did not know that the Socialists—and precisely the founders of modern scientific socialism, Marx and Engels—said: Equality is an empty phrase unless
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equality is understood to mean the abolition of classes. We want to
abolish classes, and in this respect we stand for equality. But the
claim that we want to make all men equal to one another is an
empty phrase and a stupid invention of intellectuals” (Lenin’s
speech “On Deceiving the People with Slogans About Liberty and
Equality,” Works, Vol. XXIV, pp. 293-94 82).
Clear, one would think.
Bourgeois writers are fond of depicting Marxist socialism in the shape of the old tsarist barracks, where
everything is subordinated to the “principle” of equalisation. But Marxists cannot be held responsible for the
ignorance and stupidity of bourgeois writers.
There can be no doubt that this confusion in the
minds of some Party members concerning Marxist socialism, and their infatuation with the equalitarian tendencies of agricultural communes, are exactly like the
petty-bourgeois views of our Leftist blockheads, who at
one time idealised the agricultural communes to such
an extent that they even tried to set up communes in
mills and factories, where skilled and unskilled workers, each working at his trade, had to pool their
wages in a common fund, which was then shared out
equally. You know what harm these infantile equalitarian exercises of the “Left” blockheads caused our
industry.
As you see, the remnants of the ideology of the defeated anti-Party groups display rather considerable
tenacity.
It is obvious that if these Leftist views were to
t r i u m p h i n t h e P a r t y, t h e P a r t y w o u l d c e a s e t o b e
Marxist, and the collective-farm movement would be
utterly disorganised.
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365
Or take, for example, the slogan “Make all the collective farmers prosperous.” This slogan applies not only
to collective farmers; it applies still more to the workers, for we want to make all the workers prosperous—
people leading a prosperous and fully cultured life.
One would think that the point was clear. There was
no point in overthrowing capitalism in October 1917
and building socialism all these years if we are not
going to secure a life of plenty for our people. Socialism
does not mean poverty and privation, but the abolition
of poverty and privation; it means the organisation of
a prosperous and cultured life for all members of society.
And yet, this clear and essentially elementary slogan has caused a good deal of perplexity, confusion and
muddle among a section of our Party members. Is not
this slogan, they ask, a reversion to the old slogan
“Enrich yourselves,” that was rejected by the Party?
If everyone becomes prosperous, they go on to say, and
the poor cease to exist, upon whom then are we
Bolsheviks to rely in our work? How shall we work
without the poor?
This may sound funny, but the existence of such
naïve and anti-Leninist views among a section of Party
members is an undoubted fact, which we must take into
account.
Evidently, these people do not understand that a
wide gulf lies between the slogan “Enrich yourselves”
and the slogan “Make all the collective farmers prosperous.”
In the first place, only individual persons or groups can
enrich themselves; whereas the slogan concerning a prosperous life applies not to individual persons or groups,
but to all collective farmers. Secondly, individual
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persons or groups enrich themselves for the purpose
of subordinating other people to themselves and exploiting them; whereas the slogan concerning a prosperous life for all the collective farmers—with the means of
production in the collective farms socialised—precludes all possibility of the exploitation of some persons by
others. Thirdly, the slogan “Enrich yourselves” was issued in the period when the New Economic Policy was
in its initial stage, when capitalism was being partly
restored, when the kulak was a power, when individual
peasant farming predominated in the country and collective farming was in a rudimentary state; whereas the
slogan “Make all the collective farmers prosperous” was issued in the last stage of NEP, when the capitalist elements in industry had been abolished, the kulaks in
the countryside crushed, individual peasant farming
forced into the background and the collective farms had
become the predominant form of agriculture. This is
apart from the fact that the slogan “Make all the collective
farmers prosperous” was issued not in isolation, but inseparably bound up with the slogan “Make the collective
farms Bolshevik.”
Is it not clear that in point of fact the slogan “Enrich
yourselves” was a call to restore capitalism, whereas
the slogan “Make all the collective farmers prosperous” is
a call to deal the final blow to the last remnants of capitalism by increasing the economic power of the collective farms and by transforming all collective farmers
into prosperous working people? (Voices: “Quite right!”)
Is it not clear that there is not, and cannot be, anything in common between these two slogans? (Voices:
“Quite right!”)
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367
As for the argument that Bolshevik work and socialism are inconceivable without the existence of the
poor, it is so stupid that it is embarrassing even to talk
about it. Leninists rely upon the poor when there exist
both capitalist elements and the poor who are exploited
by the capitalists. But when the capitalist elements
have been crushed and the poor have been emancipated
from exploitation, the task of Leninists is not to perpetuate and preserve poverty and the poor—the conditions for whose existence have already been eliminated—
but to abolish poverty and to raise the poor to a life of
prosperity. It would be absurd to think that socialism
can be built on the basis of poverty and privation, on
the basis of reducing personal requirements and lowering
the standard of living to the level of the poor, who themselves, moreover, refuse to remain poor any longer and
are pushing their way upward to a prosperous life. Who
wants this sort of socialism, so-called? It would not be
socialism, but a caricature of socialism. Socialism can
be built only on the basis of a vigorous growth of the productive forces of society; on the basis of an abundance
of produce and goods; on the basis of the prosperity of
the working people, on the basis of a vigorous growth
of culture. For socialism, Marxist socialism, means not
the reduction of individual requirements, but their development to the utmost, to full bloom; not the restriction of these requirements or a refusal to satisfy them,
but the full and all-round satisfaction of all the requirements of culturally developed working people.
There can be no doubt that this confusion in the
views of certain members of the Party concerning the
poor and prosperity is a reflection of the views of our
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Leftist blockheads, who idealise the poor as the eternal
bulwark of Bolshevism under all conditions, and who
regard the collective farms as an arena of fierce class
struggle.
As you see, here too, on this question, the remnants
of the ideology of the defeated anti-Party groups have
not yet lost their tenacious hold on life.
It is obvious that had such blockheaded views triumphed in our Party, the collective farms would not
have achieved the successes they have gained during
the past two years, and would have disintegrated in a
very short time.
Or take, for example, the national question. Here,
too, in the sphere of the national question, just as in
the sphere of other questions, there is in the views of
a section of the Party a confusion which creates a certain danger. I have spoken of the tenacity of the survivals of capitalism. It should be observed that the survivals of capitalism in people’s minds are much more
tenacious in the sphere of the national question than in
any other sphere. They are more tenacious because they
are able to disguise themselves well in national costume.
Many think that Skrypnik’s fall from grace was an individual case, an exception to the rule. This is not true. The fall
from grace of Skrypnik and his group in the Ukraine is not
an exception. Similar aberrations are observed among
certain comrades in other national republics as well.
What is the deviation towards nationalism—regardless whether it is a matter of the deviation towards
Great-Russian nationalism or the deviation towards
local nationalism? The deviation towards nationalism is
the adaptation of the internationalist policy of the
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369
working class to the nationalist policy of the bourgeoisie. The deviation towards nationalism reflects the attempts of “one’s own,” “national” bourgeoisie to undermine the Soviet system and to restore capitalism. The
source of both these deviations, as you see, is the same.
It is a departure from Leninist internationalism. If you
want to keep both deviations under fire, then aim primarily against this source, against those who depart
from internationalism—regardless whether it is a matter of the deviation towards local nationalism or the deviation towards Great-Russian nationalism. (Stormy applause.)
There is a controversy as to which deviation represents the chief danger: the deviation towards GreatRussian nationalism, or the deviation towards local
nationalism. Under present conditions, this is a formal
and, therefore, a pointless controversy. It would be
foolish to attempt to give ready-made recipes suitable
for all times and for all conditions as regards the chief
and the lesser danger. Such recipes do not exist. The
chief danger is the deviation against which we have
ceased to fight, thereby allowing it to grow into a danger to the state. (Prolonged applause.)
In the Ukraine, only very recently, the deviation
towards Ukrainian nationalism did not represent the
chief danger; but when the fight against it ceased and
it was allowed to grow to such an extent that it linked up
with the interventionists, this deviation became the
chief danger. The question as to which is the chief danger in the sphere of the national question is determined
not by futile, formal controversies, but by a Marxist
analysis of the situation at the given moment, and by
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a study of the mistakes that have been committed in
this sphere.
The same should be said of the Right and “Left” deviations in the sphere of general policy. Here, too, as
in other spheres, there is no little confusion in the views
of certain members of our Party. Sometimes, while fighting against the Right deviation, they turn away from
the “Left” deviation and relax the fight against it, on
the assumption that it is not dangerous, or hardly dangerous. This is a grave and dangerous error. It is a concession to the “Left” deviation which is impermissible
for a member of the Party. It is all the more impermissible for the reason that of late the “Lefts” have completely slid over to the position of the Rights, so that
there is no longer any essential difference between them.
We have always said that the “Lefts” are in fact
Rights who mask their Rightness by Left phrases. Now
the “Lefts” themselves confirm the correctness of our
statement. Take last year ’s issues of the Trotskyist
Bulletin. What do Messieurs the Trotskyists demand,
what do they write about, in what does their “Left” programme find expression? They demand: the dissolution of
the state farms, on the grounds that they do not pay;
the dissolution of the majority of the collective farms,
on the grounds that they are fictitious; the abandonment
of the policy of eliminating the kulaks; reversion to the
policy of concessions, and the leasing to concessionaires
of a number of our industrial enterprises, on the grounds
that they do not pay.
There you have the programme of these contemptible
cowards and capitulators—their counter-revolutionary
programme of restoring capitalism in the U.S.S.R.!
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371
What difference is there between this programme and
that of the extreme Rights? Clearly, there is none. It
follows that the “Lefts” have openly associated themselves with the counter-revolutionary programme of
the Rights in order to enter into a bloc with them and
to wage a joint struggle against the Party.
How can it be said after this that the “Lefts” are
not dangerous, or hardly dangerous? Is it not clear that
those who talk such rubbish bring grist to the mill of
the sworn enemies of Leninism?
As you see, here too, in the sphere of deviations
from the line of the Party—regardless of whether we
are dealing with deviations on general policy or with
deviations on the national question—the survivals of
capitalism in people’s minds, including the minds of
certain members of our Party, are quite tenacious.
There you have some of the serious and urgent problems of our ideological and political work on which there is
lack of clarity, confusion, and even direct departure from
Leninism in certain strata of the Party. Nor are these
the only questions which could serve to demonstrate the
confusion in the views of certain members of the Party.
After this, can it be said that all is well in the Party?
Clearly, it cannot.
Our tasks in the sphere of ideological and political
work are:
1) To raise the theoretical level of the Party to the
proper height.
2) To intensify ideological work in all the organisations of the Party.
3) To carry on unceasing propaganda of Leninism
in the ranks of the Party.
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4) To train the Party organisations and the nonParty active which surrounds them in the spirit of Leninist
internationalism.
5) Not to gloss over, but boldly to criticise the deviations of certain comrades from Marxism-Leninism.
6) Systematically to expose the ideology and the remnants of the ideology of trends that are hostile to Leninism.
2. QUESTIONS OF ORGANISATIONAL LEADERSHIP
I have spoken of our successes. I have spoken of
the victory of the Party line in the sphere of the national economy and of culture, and also in the sphere
of overcoming anti-Leninist groups in the Party. I have
spoken of the historic significance of our victory. But
this does not mean that we have achieved victory everywhere and in all things, and that all questions have already been settled. Such successes and such victories
do not occur in real life. We still have plenty of unsolved problems and defects of all sorts. Ahead of us is a
host of problems demanding solution. But it does undoubtedly mean that the greater part of the urgent and
immediate problems has already been successfully solved,
and in this sense the very great victory of our Party is
beyond doubt.
But here the question arises: How was this victory
brought about, how was it actually achieved, as the result of what fight, as the result of what efforts?
Some people think that it is sufficient to draw up
a correct Party line, proclaim it for all to hear, state
it in the form of general theses and resolutions, and
have it voted for unanimously, for victory to come of
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
373
itself, automatically, as it were. That, of course, is
wrong. It is a gross delusion. Only incorrigible bureaucrats and red-tapists can think so. As a matter of fact,
these successes and victories did not come automatically, but as the result of a fierce struggle for the application of the Party line. Victory never comes of itself—
it is usually won by effort. Good resolutions and declarations in favour of the general line of the Party are only
a beginning; they merely express the desire for victory,
but not the victory itself. After the correct line has
been laid down, after a correct solution of the problem
has been found, success depends on how the work is
organised; on the organisation of the struggle for carrying out the Party line; on the proper selection of personnel; on checking upon the fulfilment of the decisions of the
leading bodies. Other wise the correct line of the Party
and the correct solutions are in danger of being seriously prejudiced. More than that, after the correct political line has been laid down, organisational work
decides everything, including the fate of the political
line itself, its success or failure.
As a matter of fact, victory was achieved and won
by a systematic and fierce struggle against all sorts of
difficulties in the way of carrying out the Party line;
by overcoming these difficulties; by mobilising the Party
and the working class for the task of overcoming the
difficulties; by organising the struggle to overcome the
difficulties; by removing inefficient executives and
choosing better ones, capable of waging the struggle
against difficulties.
What are these difficulties; and where do they lie?
They are difficulties of our organisational work,
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J. V. S T A L I N
difficulties of our organisational leadership. They lie
in ourselves, in our leading people, in our organisations, in the apparatus of our Party, Soviet, economic,
trade-union, Young Communist League and all other
organisations.
We must realise that the strength and prestige of
our Party and Soviet, economic and all other organisations, and of their leaders, have grown to an unprecedented degree. And precisely because their strength and
prestige have grown to an unprecedented degree, it
is their work that now determines everything, or nearly
everything. There can be no justification for references
to so-called objective conditions. Now that the correctness of the Party’s political line has been confirmed
by the experience of a number of years, and that there
is no longer any doubt as to the readiness of the workers and peasants to support this line, the part played
by so-called objective conditions has been reduced to a
minimum; whereas the part played by our organisations
and their leaders has become decisive, exceptional.
What does this mean? It means that from now on ninetenths of the responsibility for the failures and defects
in our work rest, not on “objective” conditions, but on
ourselves, and on ourselves alone.
We have in our Party more than 2,000,000 members
and candidate members. In the Young Communist League
we have more than 4,000,000 members and candidate
members. We have over 3,000,000 worker and peasant
correspondents. The Society for the Promotion of Air
and Chemical Defence has more than 12,000,000
members. The trade unions have a membership of over
17,000,000. It is to these organisations that we are in-
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
375
debted for our successes. And if, in spite of the existence
of such organisations and of such possibilities, which
facilitate the achievement of successes, we still have
quite a number of shortcomings in our work and not a
few failures, then it is only we ourselves, our organisational work, our bad organisational leadership, that are
to blame for this.
Bureaucracy and red tape in the administrative apparatus; idle chatter about “leadership in general” instead of real and concrete leadership; the functional
structure of our organisations and lack of individual
responsibility; lack of personal responsibility in work,
and wage equalisation; the absence of a systematic
check on the fulfilment of decisions; fear of self-criticism—these are the sources of our difficulties; this is
where our difficulties now lie.
It would be naïve to think that these difficulties
can be overcome by means of resolutions and decisions.
The bureaucrats and red-tapists have long been past
masters in the art of demonstrating their loyalty to
Party and Government decisions in words, and pigeonholing them in deed. In order to overcome these difficulties it was necessary to put an end to the disparity between our organisational work and the requirements of
the political line of the Party; it was necessary to raise
the level of organisational leadership in all spheres of
the national economy to the level of political leadership; it was necessary to see to it that our organisational
work ensured the practical realisation of the political
slogans and decisions of the Party.
In order to overcome these difficulties and achieve
success it was necessary to organise the struggle to
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eliminate them; it was necessary to draw the masses of
the workers and peasants into this struggle; it was necessary to mobilise the Party itself; it was necessary to
purge the Party and the economic organisations of unreliable, unstable and degenerate elements.
What was needed for this?
We had to organise:
1) Full development of self-criticism and exposure
of shortcomings in our work.
2) The mobilisation of the Party, Soviet, economic,
trade union, and Young Communist League organisations
for the struggle against difficulties.
3) The mobilisation of the masses of the workers and
peasants to fight for the application of the slogans and
decisions of the Party and of the Government.
4) Full development of emulation and shock-brigade
work among the working people.
5) A wide network of Political Departments of machine and tractor stations and state farms and the bringing of the Party and Soviet leadership closer to the
villages.
6) The subdivision of the People’s Commissariats,
chief boards, and trusts, and the bringing of economic
leadership closer to the enterprises.
7) The abolition of lack of personal responsibility in work and the elimination of wage equalisation.
8) The elimination of the “functional system,” the
extension of individual responsibility, and a policy aiming at the abolition of collegium management.
9) Stronger checking on the fulfilment of decisions, and a policy aiming at the reorganisation of the
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379
p o w e r, b u t w h o a r e i n c a p a b l e o f l e a d e r s h i p , i n c a pable of organising anything. Last year I had a conversation with one such comrade, a very respected comrade, but an incorrigible windbag, capable of drowning
any live undertaking in a flood of talk. Here is the conversation:
I: How are you getting on with the sowing?
He: With the sowing, Comrade Stalin? We have
mobilised ourselves. (Laughter.)
I: Well, and what then?
He: We have put the question squarely. (Laughter.)
I: And what next?
He: There is a turn, Comrade Stalin; soon there will
be a turn. (Laughter.)
I: But still?
He: We can see an indication of some improvement.
(Laughter.)
I: But still, how are you getting on with the sowing?
He: So far, Comrade Stalin, we have not made any
headway with the sowing. (General laughter.)
There you have the portrait of the windbag. They
have mobilised themselves, they have put the question
squarely, they have a turn and some improvement, but
things remain as they were.
This is exactly how a Ukrainian worker recently
described the state of a certain organisation when he
was asked whether that organisation had any definite
line: “Well,” he said, “as to a line . . . they have a
line all right, but they don’t seem to be doing any work.”
(General laughter.) Evidently that organisation also
has its honest windbags.
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Besides the incorrigible bureaucrats and red-tapists, as to whose removal there are no differences of
opinion among us, there are two other types of executive
who retard our work, hinder our work, and hold up
our advance.
One of these types of executive consists of people
who rendered certain services in the past, people who
have become big-wigs, who consider that Party decisions and Soviet laws are not written for them, but for
fools. These are the people who do not consider it their
duty to fulfil the decisions of the Party and of the Government, and who thus destroy the foundations of
Party and state discipline. What do they count upon
when they violate Party decisions and Soviet laws?
They presume that the Soviet Government will not venture to touch them, because of their past services. These
overconceited big-wigs think that they are irreplaceable,
and that they can violate the decisions of the leading
bodies with impunity. What is to be done with executives of this kind? They must unhesitatingly be removed
from their leading posts, irrespective of past services.
(Voices: “Quite right!”) They must be demoted to lower
positions and this must be announced in the press.
(Voices: “Quite right!”) This is essential in order to
bring those conceited big-wig bureaucrats down a peg
or two, and to put them in their proper place. This is
essential in order to strengthen Party and Soviet discipline in the whole of our work. (Voices: “Quite right!”
Applause.)
And now about the second type of executive. I
have in mind the windbags, I would say honest windbags
(laughter), people who are honest and loyal to the Soviet
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
379
p o w e r, b u t w h o a r e i n c a p a b l e o f l e a d e r s h i p , i n c a pable of organising anything. Last year I had a conversation with one such comrade, a very respected comrade, but an incorrigible windbag, capable of drowning
any live undertaking in a flood of talk. Here is the conversation:
I: How are you getting on with the sowing?
He: With the sowing, Comrade Stalin? We have
mobilised ourselves. (Laughter.)
I: Well, and what then?
He: We have put the question squarely. (Laughter.)
I: And what next?
He: There is a turn, Comrade Stalin; soon there will
be a turn. (Laughter.)
I: But still?
He: We can see an indication of some improvement.
(Laughter.)
I: But still, how are you getting on with the sowing?
He: So far, Comrade Stalin, we have not made any
headway with the sowing. (General laughter.)
There you have the portrait of the windbag. They
have mobilised themselves, they have put the question
squarely, they have a turn and some improvement, but
things remain as they were.
This is exactly how a Ukrainian worker recently
described the state of a certain organisation when he
was asked whether that organisation had any definite
line: “Well,” he said, “as to a line . . . they have a
line all right, but they don’t seem to be doing any work.”
(General laughter.) Evidently that organisation also
has its honest windbags.
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And when such windbags are dismissed from their
posts and are given jobs far removed from operative
work, they shrug their shoulders in perplexity and ask:
“Why have we been dismissed? Did we not do all that
was necessary to get the work done? Did we not organise
a rally of shock brigaders? Did we not proclaim the slogans of the Party and of the Government at the conference of shock brigaders? Did we not elect the whole
of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to the
Honorary Presidium? (General laughter.) Did we not
send greetings to Comrade Stalin—what more do you
want of us?” (General laughter.)
What is to be done with these incorrigible windbags?
Why, if they were allowed to remain on operative work
they are capable of drowning every live undertaking in
a flood of watery and endless speeches. Obviously, they
must be removed from leading posts and given work
other than operative work. There is no place for windbags on operative work. (Voices: “Quite right!” Applause.)
I have already briefly reported how the Central
Committee handled the selection of personnel for the
Soviet and economic organisations, and how it strengthened the checking on the fulfilment of decisions. Comrade
Kaganovich will deal with this in greater detail in his
report on the third item of the congress agenda.
I should like to say a few words, however, about
further work in connection with increased checking on
the fulfilment of decisions.
The proper organisation of checking on the fulfilment
of decisions is of decisive importance in the fight against
bureaucracy and red tape. Are the decisions of the leading bodies carried out, or are they pigeon-holed by
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
381
bureaucrats and red-tapists? Are they carried out properly,
or are they distorted? Is the apparatus working conscientiously and in a Bolshevik manner, or is it working to
no purpose? These things can be promptly found out
only by a well-organised check on the fulfilment of decisions. A well-organised check on the fulfilment of decisions is the searchlight which helps to reveal how the
apparatus is functioning at any moment and to bring
bureaucrats and red-tapists into the light of day. We can
say with certainty that nine-tenths of our defects and failures are due to the lack of a properly organised check
on the fulfilment of decisions. There can be no doubt
that with such a check on fulfilment, defects and failures would certainly have been averted.
But if checking on fulfilment is to achieve its purpose,
two conditions at least are required: firstly, that fulfilment is checked systematically and not spasmodically;
secondly, that the work of checking on fulfilment in all
sections of the Party, Soviet and economic organisations is entrusted not to second rate people, but to people
with sufficient authority, to the leaders of the organisations concerned.
The proper organisation of checking on fulfilment is
most important of all for the central leading bodies.
The organisational structure of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection does not meet the requirements of a
well-devised system for checking on fulfilment. Several
years ago, when our economic work was simpler and less
satisfactory, and when we could count on the possibility
of inspecting the work of all the People’s Commissariats
and of all the economic organisations, the Workers’
and Peasants’ Inspection was adequate. But now, when
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our economic work has expanded and has become more
complicated, and when it is no longer necessary, or possible, to inspect it from one centre, the Workers’ and
Peasants’ Inspection must be reorganised. What we
need now is not an inspection, but a check on the fulfilment of the decisions of the centre—what we need
now is control over the fulfilment of the decisions of
the centre. We now need an organisation that would
not set itself the universal aim of inspecting everything
and everybody, but which could concentrate all its
attention on the work of control, on the work of checking on fulfilment of the decisions of the central bodies
of the Soviet power. Such an organisation can be only
a Soviet Control Commission under the Council of People’s Commissars of the U.S.S.R., working on assignments of the Council of People’s Commissars, and having representatives in the localities who are independent
of the local bodies. And in order that this organisation
may have sufficient authority and be able, if necessary,
to take proceedings against any responsible executive,
candidates for the Soviet Control Commission must be
nominated by the Party congress and endorsed by the
Council of People’s Commissars and the Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R. I think that only
such an organisation could strengthen Soviet control
and Soviet discipline.
As for the Central Control Commission, it is well
known that it was set up primarily and mainly for the
purpose of averting a split in the Party. You know
that at one time there really was a danger of a split.
You know that the Central Control Commission and its
organisations succeeded in averting the danger of a
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
383
split. Now there is no longer any danger of a split. But,
on the other hand, we are urgently in need of an organisation that could concentrate its attention mainly on
checking the fulfilment of the decisions of the Party
and of its Central Committee. Such an organisation can
be only a Party Control Commission under the Central
Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.), working on assignments
of the Party and its Central Committee and having representatives in the localities who are independent of
the local organisations. Naturally, such a responsible
organisation must have great authority. In order that
it may have sufficient authority and be able to take proceedings against any responsible executive who has committed an offence, including members of the Central Committee, the right to elect or dismiss the members of this
commission must be vested only in the supreme organ of
the Party, viz., the Party congress. There can be no doubt
that such an organisation will be quite capable of ensuring
control over the fulfilment of the decisions of the central
organs of the Party and of strengthening Party discipline.
That is how matters stand with regard to questions
of organisational leadership.
Our tasks in the sphere of organisational work are:
1) To continue to adapt organisational work to the
requirements of the political line of the Party.
2) To raise organisational leadership to the level
of political leadership.
3) To secure that organisational leadership fully
ensures the implementation of the political slogans and
decisions of the Party.
*
*
*
384
J. V. S T A L I N
I am coming to the end of my report, comrades.
What conclusions must be drawn from it?
Everybody now admits that our successes are great
and extraordinary. In a relatively short space of time
our country has been transferred on to the lines of industrialisation and collectivisation. The First Five-Year
Plan has been successfully carried out. This arouses a
feeling of pride among our workers and increases their
self-confidence.
That is very good, of course. But successes sometimes
have their seamy side. They sometimes give rise to certain dangers, which, if allowed to develop, may wreck
the whole work. There is, for example, the danger that
some of our comrades may become dizzy with successes.
There have been such cases among us, as you know.
There is the danger that certain of our comrades, having become intoxicated with success, will get swelled
heads and begin to lull themselves with boastful songs,
such as: “It’s a walkover,” “We can knock anybody
into a cocked hat,” etc. This is not precluded by any
means, comrades. There is nothing more dangerous than
sentiments of this kind, for they disarm the Party and
demobilise its ranks. If such sentiments gain the upper
hand in our Party we may be faced with the danger of
all our successes being wrecked.
Of course, the First Five-Year Plan has been successfully carried out. That is true. But the matter does not
and cannot end there, comrades. Before us is the Second Five-Year Plan, which we must also carry out,
and successfully too. You know that plans are carried
out in the course of a struggle against difficulties, in
the process of overcoming difficulties. That means that
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
385
there will be difficulties and there will be a struggle
against them. Comrades Molotov and Kuibyshev will
report to you on the Second Five-Year Plan. From their
reports you will see what great difficulties we shall
have to overcome in order to carry out this great plan.
This means that we must not lull the Party, but sharpen
its vigilance; we must not lull it to sleep, but keep it
ready for action; not disarm it, but arm it; not demobilise it, but keep it in a state of mobilisation for the
fulfilment of the Second Five-Year Plan.
Hence, the first conclusion: We must not become
infatuated with the successes achieved, and must not become
conceited.
We have achieved successes because we have had
the correct guiding line of the Party, and because we
have been able to organise the masses for putting this
line into effect Needless to say, without these conditions we should not have achieved the successes that we
have achieved, and of which we are justly proud. But
it is a very rare thing for ruling parties to have a correct
line and to be able to put it into effect.
Look at the countries which surround us. Can you
find many ruling parties there that have a correct line
and are putting it into effect? Actually, there are now
no such parties in the world; for they are all living
without prospects, they are floundering in the chaos of
the crisis, and see no way of getting out of the swamp.
Our Party alone knows in what direction to steer its
course, and it is going forward successfully. To what
does our Party owe its superiority? To the fact that it
is a Marxist party, a Leninist party. It owes it to the
fact that it is guided in its work by the teaching of
386
J. V. S T A L I N
Marx, Engels, and Lenin. There can be no doubt that as
long as we remain true to this teaching, as long as we
have this compass, we shall achieve successes in our
work.
It is said that in some countries in the West Marxism has already been destroyed. It is said that it has
been destroyed by the bourgeois-nationalist trend known
as fascism. That, of course, is nonsense. Only people
who are ignorant of history can talk like that. Marxism
is the scientific expression of the fundamental interests
of the working class. To destroy Marxism, the working
class must be destroyed. But it is impossible to destroy
the working class. More than 80 years have passed since
Marxism came into the arena. During this time scores
and hundreds of bourgeois governments have tried to
destroy Marxism. And what has happened? Bourgeois
governments have come and gone, but Marxism has remained. (Stormy applause.) Moreover, Marxism has
achieved complete victory on one-sixth of the globe;
moreover, it has achieved victory in the very country in
which Marxism was considered to have been utterly
destroyed. (Stormy applause.) It cannot be regarded as an
accident that the country in which Marxism has achieved
complete victory is now the only country in the
world which knows no crises and unemployment, whereas
in all other countries, including the fascist countries,
crisis and unemployment have been reigning for four
years now. No, comrades, that is no accident. (Prolonged
applause.)
Yes, comrades, our successes are due to the fact that
we have worked and fought under the banner of Marx,
Engels, and Lenin.
REPORT TO THE SEVENTEENTH PARTY CONGRESS
387
H e n c e , t h e s e c o n d c o n c l u s i o n : We m u s t re m a i n
true to the end to the great banner of Marx, Engels, Lenin.
(Applause.)
The working class of the U.S.S.R. is strong not only
because it has a Leninist party that has been tried and
tested in battle; further, it is strong not only because
it enjoys the support of the vast masses of the labouring peasants; it is strong also because it is supported
and assisted by the world proletariat. The working
class of the U.S.S.R. is part of the world proletariat,
its advanced detachment, and our republic is the cherished child of the world proletariat. There can be no
doubt that if our working class had not had the support
of the working class in the capitalist countries it would
not have been able to retain power, it would not have
secured the conditions for socialist construction, and,
consequently, it would not have achieved the successes
that it has achieved. International ties between the
working class of the U.S.S.R. and the workers of the
capitalist countries, the fraternal alliance between
the workers of the U.S.S.R. and the workers of all countries—this is one of the corner-stones of the strength and
might of the Republic of Soviets. The workers in the
West say that the working class of the U.S.S.R. is the
shock brigade of the world proletariat. That is very
good. It means that the world proletariat is prepared
to continue rendering all the support it can to the working class of the U.S.S.R. But it imposes serious duties
upon us. It means that we must prove by our work that
we deserve the honourable title of shock brigade of the
proletarians of all countries. It imposes upon us the
duty of working better and fighting better for the final
388
J. V. S T A L I N
victory of socialism in our country, for the victory of
socialism in all countries.
Hence, the third conclusion: We must be true to the
end to the cause of proletarian internationalism, to the
cause of the fraternal alliance of the proletarians of all
countries. (Applause.)
Such are the conclusions.
Long live the great and invincible banner of Marx,
Engels, and Lenin! (Stormy and prolonged applause from the
whole hall. The congress gives Comrade Stalin an ovation.
The “Internationale” is sung, after which the ovation is
resumed with renewed vigour. Shouts of “Hurrah for
Stalin!” “Long live Stalin!” “Long live the C.C. of the
Party!”)
Pravda, No. 27
January 28, 1934
TO COMRADE SHAPOSHNIKOV,
CHIEF AND COMMISSAR OF THE FRUNZE
MILITARY ACADEMY OF THE WORKERS’
AND PEASANTS’ RED ARMY.
TO COMRADE SHCHADENKO,
ASSISTANT FOR POLITICAL WORK
I congratulate the students, teaching staff and executives of the Red Banner Military Academy on its
fifteenth anniversary and on the award of the Order of
Lenin.
I wish the Academy complete success in the training,
so essential for the defence of our Motherland, of educated Bolshevik commanders, masters of the art of war.
J. Stalin
Pravda, No. 18,
January 18, 1934
INSTEAD OF A REPLY TO THE DISCUSSION
January 31, 1934
Comrades, the discussion at this congress has revealed
the complete unity of the views of our Party leaders
on, one can say, all questions of Party policy. As you
know, no objections whatever have been raised against
the report. Hence, it has been revealed that there is
extraordinary ideological, political and organizational
solidarity in the ranks of our Party. (Applause.) The
question arises: Is there any need, after this, for a reply
to the discussion? I do not think there is. Permit me
therefore to refrain from making any concluding remarks. (A stormy ovation. All the delegates rise to their
feet. Thunderous shouts of “Hurrah!” A chorus of shouts:
“Long live Stalin!” The delegates, all standing, sing the
“Internationale,” after which the ovation is resumed.
Shouts of “Hurrah!” “Long live Stalin!” “Long live
the C.C.!”)
Pravda, No. 31,
February 1, 1934
NOTES
1
The Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.), held in Mosc o w, J u n e 2 6 - J u l y 1 3 , 1 9 3 0 , d i s c u s s e d t h e p o l i t i c a l a n d
o rg a n i s a t i o n a l r e p o r t s o f t h e P a r t y ’s C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e ;
the reports of the Central Auditing Commission, the Central
C o n t r o l C o m m i s s i o n a n d t h e C . P. S . U . ( B . ) d e l e g a t i o n t o
the Executive Committee of the Comintern; and reports
on the fulfilment of the five-year plan in industry, on the
collective-farm movement and the promotion of agriculture,
and on the tasks of the trade unions in the reconstruction
period. The congress unanimously approved the political line
and activities of the Central Committee of the Party and
instructed it to continue to ensure Bolshevik rates of socialist
construction, to achieve fulfilment of the five-year plan in four
years, and to carry out unswervingly the sweeping socialist
offensive along the whole front and the elimination of the kulaks
as a class on the basis of complete collectivisation. The congress
noted the momentous importance of the crucial change in the
development of agriculture, thanks to which the collective-farm
peasantry had become a real and stable support of the Soviet
regime. The congress instructed the Party’s Central Committee
to continue to pursue a firm policy of peace and to strengthen the
defence capacity of the U.S.S.R. The congress issued directives:
that heavy industry should be developed to the utmost and a
new, powerful coal and metallurgical base created in the
eastern part of the country; that the work of all the mass
organisations should be reconstructed and the role of the trade
392
NOTES
unions in socialist construction increased; that all workers and
the masses of the working people should be drawn into the
socialist emulation movement. The congress completely
exposed the Right opportunists as agents of the kulaks within
the Party, and declared that the views of the Right opposition
w e r e i n c o m p a t i b l e w i t h m e m b e r s h i p o f t h e C . P. S . U . ( B . ) .
The congress instructed the Party organisations to intensify
the fight against deviations on the national question—
against dominant-nation chauvinism and local nationalism
and conciliation towards them—and to firmly carry out the
Leninist national policy, which ensures the broad development
of the cultures—national in form and socialist in content—
of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. The Sixteenth Congress is
known in the history of the Party as the congress of the
sweeping offensive of socialism along the whole front, of the
elimination of the kulaks as a class, and of the realisation of
complete collectivisation. J. V. Stalin delivered the political
report of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) on June 27 (see Works, Vol.
12, pp. 242-385), and replied to the discussion on the report on
July 2. (For the Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.), see
History of the C.P.S.U.(B.), Short Course, Moscow 1954,
pp. 481-84. For the resolutions of the congress, see Resolutions
and Decisions of C.P.S.U. Congresses, Conferences and Central
Committee Plenums, Part II, 1953, pp. 553-616.)
p. 1
2
J. V. Stalin, The Political Tasks of the University of the Peoples
of the East (see Works, Vol. 7, pp. 135-54).
p. 4
3
V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 27, pp. 291-319.
4
The plenum of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.),
which took place on November 10-17, 1929, discussed the following questions: control figures for the national economy
for 1929-30; results and further tasks of collective-farm development, etc. After reviewing the question of the group of
Right deviators, the plenum declared that propaganda of the
views of Right opportunism and of conciliation towards it
p. 5
NOTES
393
was incompatible with membership of the C.P.S.U.(B.), decided to expel Bukharin, as the ring-leader of the Right-wing
capitulators, from the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.) and issued a warning to Rykov,
Tomsky and other members of the Right opposition. (For the
resolutions adopted by the plenum of the Central Committee
of the C.P.S.U.(B.) see Resolutions and Decisions of C.P.S.U.
Congresses, Conferences and Central Committee Plenums,
Part II, 1953, pp. 500-43.)
p. 9
5
The Tenth Party Conference of the Urals Region took place
in Sverdlovsk, June 3-13, 1930. It fully approved the political
and organisational line of the C.C. of the Party. After exposing
the Right-opportunist manoeuvres of Rykov and emphasising
the counter-revolutionary, treacherous role of the Right deviation in the communist movement, the conference in its decisions called upon the Urals Party organisation to wage a relentless fight against all attempts of the Right capitulators
to oppose the line of the Party and its Leninist Central Committee.
p. 10
6
This refers to the Sixth Congress of the Communist Organisations of Transcaucasia (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia),
which took place in Tiflis, June 5-12, 1930. The congress fully
approved the political and organisational line and the practical work of the C.C. of the C.P.S.U.(B.).
p. 11
7
J. V. Stalin, Concerning Questions of Agrarian Policy in the
U.S.S.R. Speech delivered at a Conference of Marxist Students of Agrarian Questions, December 27, 1929 (see Works,
Vol. 12, pp. 147-178).
p. 18
8
J. V. Stalin, Political Report of the Central Committee to the
Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) (see Works, Vol. 12,
pp. 248-49).
p. 19
9
V. I. Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism
(see Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 22, pp. 173-290).
p. 19
394
NOTES
10
J. V. Stalin, Political Report of the Central Committee to the
Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) (see Works, Vol. 12,
p. 310).
p. 19
11
See J. V. Stalin, Works, Vol. 8, p. 300.
p. 21
12
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 21, p. 85.
p. 28
13
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 21, p. 87.
14
FROM MARX
p. 28
The First All-Union Conference of Leading Personnel of SoTO
MAO
cialist Industry took
place in
Moscow, January 30 to February
4, 1931. It was attended by 728 delegates, including representatives of industrial combines, factory directors and chiefs
of construction works, engineers, foremen and foremost shock
brigaders, and leaders of Party and trade-union organisations. The conference heard the report of G. K. Orjonikidze,
Chairman of the Supreme Council of National Economy, entitled “Control Figures for 1931 and the Tasks of Economic
Organisations.” On February 3, V. M. Molotov, Chairman
of the Council of People’s Commissars, addressed the conference on “The Fundamental Premises and Fulfilment of the
Economic Plan.” J. V. Stalin delivered a speech on “The Tasks
of Business Executives” on February 4 at the final sitting
of the conference. Taking J. V. Stalin’s directives as their
guide, the conference mapped out practical measures for the
fulfilment of the national-economic plan for the third and
decisive year of the first five-year plan period. The conference
laid stress on the following as the chief tasks of business executives: mastery of technique, improvement of the quality
of leadership in industry, consistent application of the principle of one-man management, introduction of business accounting and struggle for increased labour productivity, lowering of production costs and improvement of the quality of
output. The conference sent greetings to the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.).
p. 31
NOT FOR
COMMERCIAL
DISTRIBUTION
15
This refers to the sabotage activities of a counter-revolutionary organisation of bourgeois experts in Shakhty and
o t h e r D o n b a s a r e a s . T h i s o rg a n i s a t i o n w a s d i s c o v e r e d i n
NOTES
395
the beginning of 1928. The Shakhty case was examined
at a special session of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R.
in Moscow from May 18 to July 5, 1928. (For the Shakhty
affair, see J. V. Stalin, Works, Vol. 11, pp. 38, 57-68, also
History of the C.P.S.U.(B.), Short Course, Moscow 1954,
p. 454.)
p. 38
16
The trial of the counter-revolutionary organisation of wreckers
and spies known as the “Industrial Party” took place in Moscow,
November 25 to December 7, 1930. The case was heard at a
special session of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R. It was
established at the trial that the “Industrial Party,” which
united the counter-revolutionary elements of the top stratum
of the old, bourgeois technical intelligentsia, was an espionage
and military agency of international capital in the Soviet
Union. It was linked with White emigres—former big capitalists of tsarist Russia—and acted under the direct instructions of the French general staff, preparing for military intervention by the imperialists and armed overthrow of the SovietGovernment. The foreign imperialists supplied the wreckers
with directives and funds for carrying on espionage and sabotage in various branches of the national economy of the
U.S.S.R.
p. 38
17
From N. A. Nekrasov’s poem, “Who Lives Well in Russia?”
(See N. A. Nekrasov, Selected Works, Russ. ed., 1947, p. 323.)
p. 41
18
On May 14, 1931, the builders of the Magnitogorsk Iron and
Steel Works informed J. V. Stalin by telegram that the Magnitnaya Mountain mine had been put into operation.
p. 49
19
A Conference of Business Executives was held under the
auspices of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.), June 22-23, 1931. It was
attended by representatives of the economic organisations
united under the Supreme Council of National Economy of
the U.S.S.R. and by representatives of the People’s Commissariat of Supply of the U.S.S.R. J. V. Stalin attended the conference on June 22 and 23, and on the latter date delivered
his speech, “New Conditions—New Tasks in Economic Con-
396
NOTES
struction.” V. M. Molotov, K. Y. Voroshilov, A. A. Andreyev,
L. M. Kaganovich, A. I. Mikoyan, N. M. Shvernik, M. I. Kalinin, G. K. Orjonikidze and V. V. Kuibyshev took part in
the work of the conference.
p. 53
20
J. V. Stalin wrote these greetings on the occasion of the inauguration, on October 1, 1931, of the Moscow AMO Automobile Works, one of the country’s giant industrial plants. At a
general conference of the workers, engineering and technical
personnel, and office employees, held on the day that the
works was put into operation, the works was named after Comrade Stalin at the request of the workers, and is now called
the Stalin Automobile Works.
p. 83
21
Tekhnika (Technique)—a newspaper published every three
days from October 1931 to 1937. Until January 1932, it was
the organ of the Supreme Council of National Economy of
t h e U . S . S . R . a n d s u b s e q u e n t l y t h e o rg a n o f t h e P e o p l e ’s
Commissariat of Heavy Industry of the U.S.S.R. J. V. Stalin’s
greetings were published in No. 1 of the newspaper Tekhnika
on October 10, 1931.
p. 85
22
Proletarskaya Revolutsia (Proletarian Revolution)—a historical magazine published from 1921 to 1928 by the History
of the Party Department (a commission on the history of the
October Revolution and the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), subsequently the Department of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
for studying the history of the October Revolution and the
C.P.S.U.(B.), and from October 1928 to 1931 by the Lenin
Institute of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.). After a year ’s interval,
the magazine was published from 1933 to 1941 by the MarxEngels-Lenin Institute of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
p. 86
23
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 22, pp. 305, 304.
p. 89
24
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 5, p. 345. p. 97
25
V. I. Lenin, The Attitude of Social-Democracy towards the
Peasant Movement (see Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 9, p. 213).
p. 103
NOTES
397
26
Karl Marx, Misère de la Philosophie. Réponse à la Philosophie
de la Misère de M. Proudhon. Marx-Engels, Gesamtausgabe,
Bd. 6, Abt. 1.
p. 107
27
The Versailles system was a system of political and economic
relations between the capitalist countries established by Britain, the U.S.A. and France after the defeat of Germany and
her allies in the world imperialist war of 1914-18. The basis
of the system was the Versailles Peace Treaty and a number
of other treaties connected with it, which, in particular, established the new frontiers of the European states.
p. 119
28
K. Marx und F. Engels, Die deutsche Ideologie. Kritik der
neusten deutschen Philosophie in ihren Represäntanten, Feuerbach, B. Bauer und Stirner, und des deutschen Sozialismus in
seinen verschiedenen Propheten. Teil I (see Marx-Engels, Gesamtausgabe, B. 5, S. 1-432).
p. 121
29
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works, Vol. I, Moscow
1955, pp. 30-60.
p. 121
30
This refers to meetings of J. V. Stalin and V. I. Lenin: in Stockholm, at the Fourth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. (1906); in
London, at the time of the Fifth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.
(1907); and during J. V. Stalin’s trips abroad to Cracow and
Vienna (1912 and 1913).
p. 123
31
See J. V. Stalin, Works, Vol. 6, pp. 374-420.
32
In a letter dated March 25, 1932, addressed to J. V. Stalin,
Mr. Richardson, representative of the Associated Press news
agency, asked about the truth of the rumours in the foreign
press that the Berlin physician, Zondeck, had been invited to
Moscow to treat J. V. Stalin.
p. 136
33
The Complaints Bureau was set up in April 1919 under the
People’s Commissariat of State Control, which in 1920 was
changed to the People’s Commissariat of Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection. The tasks and scope of the work of the Central
Bureau of Complaints and Applications were defined by a
regulation dated May 4, 1919, and those of the local departments
p. 133
398
NOTES
of the Central Bureau by a regulation dated May 24, 1919,
published over the signature of J. V. Stalin, People’s Commissar of State Control. From the day they were formed the Central
and local bureaus did much work in investigating and checking
complaints and statements of working people, enlisting in
this work an extensive active of workers and peasants. From
February 1934 the Bureau of Complaints and Applications was
included in the system of the Soviet Control Commission
under the Council of People’s Commissars, and from September
1940 it has formed a department of the People’s Commissariat
(subsequently—Ministry) of State Control of the U.S.S.R.
J. V. Stalin’s article, “The Importance and Tasks of the
Complaints Bureaus” was written in connection with the allUnion five-day review and checking of the work of the bureaus
carried out on April 9-14, 1932, by a decision of the Presidium
of the Central Control Commission of the C.P.S.U.(B.) and
the Collegium of the People’s Commissariat of Workers’ and
Peasants’ Inspection of the U.S.S.R.
p. 137
34
The Seventh All-Union Conference of the All-Union Leninist
Young Communist League took place in Moscow, July 1-8, 1932.
It discussed the following questions: the fourth, culminating year
of the five-year plan period and the tasks of the Leninist Young
Communist League (socialist emulation, shock-brigade work,
etc.); the growth of the Y.C.L. and Young Pioneers’ organisation and the state of political education work in the Y.C.L
and among the Young Pioneers. J. V. Stalin’s greetings were
read out on July 8 at the final sitting of the conference. p. 143
35
“Congratulations to Maxim Gorky” were written in connection
with the celebration, on September 25, 1932, of the fortieth
anniversary of the literary and revolutionary activity of the
great proletarian writer, Alexei Maximovich Gorky.
p. 144
36
This refers to the Civil War between the Northern and the
Southern states of America in 1861-65.
p. 152
37
The Joint Plenum of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission of the C.P.S.U.(B.), which took place on
January 7-12, 1933, discussed the following questions: the
NOTES
399
results of the First Five-Year Plan and the national-economic
plan for 1933—the first year of the second five-year plan period (reports of Comrades Stalin, Molotov, and Kuibyshev);
the aims and tasks of the Political Departments of the machine
and tractor stations and state farms; inner-Party questions.
At the sitting of the plenum on January 7, J. V. Stalin made
a report on “The Results of the First Five-Year Plan” and
at the sitting on January 11 he delivered a speech on “Work
in the Countryside.” In its decisions the plenum emphasised
the significance of the results of the fulfilment of the First
Five-Year Plan in four years as the most outstanding event
in current history. The plenum pointed out that the slogan
of new construction in the second five-year plan period must
be supplemented by the slogan of mastering the new undertakings in industry and of organisationally strengthening the
new undertakings in agriculture. The plenum instructed all
economic, Party and trade-union organisations to concentrate
chief attention on the complete fulfilment of the assignments
for raising labour productivity and lowering production costs.
In order to consolidate politically the machine and tractor
stations and state farms, enhance their political role and influence in the countryside and improve the work of the Party
organisations in the collective farms and state farms, the
plenum adopted a decision to organise Political Departments
at the machine and tractor stations and state farms. The plenum approved the decision of the Political Bureau of the C.C.
to conduct a purge of the Party during 1933 and to discontinue admission to the Party until the end of the purge. (For
the resolutions of the joint plenum of the C.C. and C.C.C.,
C.P.S.U.(B.), see Resolutions and Decisions of C.P.S.U. Congresses, Conferences and Central Committee Plenums, Part II,
1953, pp. 717-42.)
p. 161
38
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 32, p. 413.
39
The New York Times—a bourgeois daily newspaper, influential press organ of the American capitalist monopolies; associated with the so-called Democratic Party; published in New
York since 1851.
p. 166
p. 164
400
NOTES
40
The Daily Telegraph—a British reactionary daily newspaper
close to the Conservative Party leadership, published in London since 1855. In 1937 it merged with the Morning Post and
since then has been issued in London and Manchester under
the name of The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post.
p. 166
41
Gazeta Polska (Polish Gazette)—a Polish bourgeois newspaper,
mouthpiece of the fascist Pilsudski clique. It was issued in
Warsaw from 1929 to 1939.
p. 166
42
The Financial Times—a British bourgeois daily newspaper,
organ of the industrial and financial circles of the City, published in London since 1888.
p. 166
43
Politica—an Italian social and political magazine that reflected the views of the Italian big bourgeoisie. It began publication in Rome in 1918.
p. 167
44
Current History—a magazine propagating the views of American bourgeois historians and ideologists of the U.S. State
Department’s aggressive foreign policy. It has been published
in New York since 1914.
p. 167
45
Le Temps (The Times)—a French bourgeois daily newspaper,
which since 1931 was the property of the Comité des Forges
(the heavy industry association). It was published in Paris
from 1861 to 1942.
p. 167
46
The Round Table—a British bourgeois magazine dealing with
questions of the colonial policy of the British Empire and
international relations. Published in London since 1910, it
expressed the views of conservative circles of the British
bourgeoisie.
p. 168
47
Die Neue Freie Presse (New Free Press)—an Austrian bourgeois
newspaper, which reflected the views of the commercial and
industrial bourgeoisie and of banking circles; was published
in Vienna from 1864 to 1939.
p. 169
NOTES
401
48
The Nation—an American social-political and literary magazine of a liberal trend, reflecting petty-bourgeois opinion.
It has been published in New York since 1865.
p. 170
49
Forward—a trade-unionist weekly of the “Left”-reformist
brand; it started publication in Glasgow (Scotland) in 1906
p. 171
50
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 25, p. 338.
51
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol, 31, pp. 483-84.
p. 177
52
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 33, pp. 388-89.
p. 178
53
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 33, p. 459.
54
At the end of 1931, imperialist Japan, which was striving
to set up its rule in China and the Far East, invaded Manchuria without declaration of war. The occupation of this territory was accompanied by a concentration of Japanese troops
at the frontier of the U.S.S.R. and the mobilisation of whiteguard spies and bandits intended for use in a war against
the Soviet Union. The Japanese imperialists were preparing positions suitable for attack on the U.S.S.R., aiming at
the seizure of the Soviet Far East and Siberia.
p. 182
55
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 30, p. 127.
p. 192
56
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 24, p. 465.
p. 192
57
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 30, p. 123.
p. 192
58
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 24, p. 466.
p. 192
59
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 30, pp. 173-74.
p. 193
p. 176
p. 179
402
NOTES
60
This refers to the decision of the Central Executive Committee
and the Council of People’s Commissars of the U.S.S.R. dated
August 22, 1932, on “The Struggle against Speculation.” The
decision was published in Pravda, No. 233, August 23,
1932.
p. 208
61
This refers to the decision of the Central Executive Committee
and the Council of People’s Commissars of the U.S.S.R. on
“Protection of the Property of State Enterprises, Collective Farms and Co-operatives and the Consolidation of Public
(Socialist) Property,” adopted on August 7, 1932. This decision, written by J. V. Stalin, states: “The Central Executive
Committee and Council of People’s Commissars of the U.S.S.R.
hold that public property (state, collective-farm and co-operative property) is the basis of the Soviet system; it is sacred
and inviolable, and persons committing offences against public property must be considered enemies of the people. In view
of this it is a prime duty of the organs of Soviet power to wage
a determined struggle against those who steal public property.” The decision was published in Pravda, No. 218, August
8, 1932.
p. 214
62
The decision of the Council of People’s Commissars of the
U.S.S.R. and the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.),
dated May 6, 1932, on “The Plan for Grain Procurements from
the 1932 Harvest and for Development of Collective-Farm
Trade in Grain” was published in Pravda, No. 125, May 7,
1932.
p. 223
63
This refers to the counter-revolutionary mutiny at Kronstadt
in March 1921. The mutiny was headed by whiteguards, who
were connected with Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks
and representatives of foreign states.
p. 232
64
Rabotnitsa (Working Woman)—a magazine published by the
Pravda Publishing House; it has been issued since January
1923.
p. 240
65
The First All-Union Congress of Collective-Farm Shock Brigaders took place in Moscow on February 15-19, 1933, attend-
NOTES
403
ed by 1,513 delegates. J. V. Stalin took part in the work of
the congress, which elected him to its honorary presidium and
addressed greetings to him in the name of the millions of collective-farm peasants. The congress discussed the question of
strengthening the collective farms and the tasks of the spring
sowing. On February 19, when the closing session was held,
the congress was addressed by J. V. Stalin. Other speakers
a t t h e c o n g r e s s w e r e V. M . M o l o t o v, L . M . K a g a n o v i c h ,
M. I. Kalinin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Budyonny. In its
appeal to all peasant collective farmers of the U.S.S.R. the
congress called for the collective farms to be made Bolshevik
and for the development of all-Union socialist emulation of
the state and collective farms for a bumper harvest and exemplary preparation and carrying out of the spring sowing.
p. 242
66
This refers to a letter sent by the collective farmers of the
area served by the Bezenchuk Machine and Tractor Station
of the Middle-Volga territory (now Kuibyshev Region) to
J. V. Stalin, published in Pravda, No. 28, January 29, 1933.
p. 262
67
Metro-Vickers—a British electrical-engineering firm which
had contracted with the U.S.S.R. to render technical aid to
enterprises of the Soviet electrical industry. In March 1933,
criminal proceedings were instituted against six Britishers,
employees of the Moscow office of Metro-Vickers, on the charge
of engaging in wrecking at large Soviet electric power stations.
The investigation and the trial, which took place on April
12-19, 1933, established that the arrested Metro-Vickers employees had carried on espionage in the U.S.S.R. and, with
the assistance of a gang of criminal elements, had organised
damage to equipment, accidents and acts of sabotage at large
U.S.S.R. electric power-stations for the purpose of undermining the strength of Soviet industry and of weakening the Soviet state.
p. 265
68
This refers to M. I. Kalinin’s radio address to the American
people, on November 20, 1933, in connection with the establishment, on November 16, 1933, of diplomatic relations between
the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A.
p. 282
404
NOTES
69
A world economic conference was held in London from June
12 to July 27, 1933. Its initiators—Britain and other capitalist countries—tried to represent it as a sovereign remedy
for putting an end to the economic crisis and for the “rehabilitation” of capitalism. The conference was intended to discuss
the problems of stabilising currencies, organising production
and trade, abolishing customs barriers and establishing economic peace among all the capitalist countries. Expressing
the U.S.S.R.’s unalterable desire to further the cause of peace
and strengthen commercial ties, the Soviet delegation at the
conference submitted a proposal for the conclusion of an economic non-aggression pact and likewise declared that the Soviet Union was prepared to place orders abroad to the value
of $1,000,000,000 on the basis of receiving long-term credits
and the creation of normal conditions for Soviet exports. The
Soviet delegation’s proposals were not supported by the conference. The conference revealed the complete inability of the
capitalist world to find a way out of the economic crisis and
the further intensification of the contradictions between the
capitalist countries, primarily between Britain and the U.S.A.
and between Germany and her creditors. After fruitless discussions the conference ended in failure, without settling a single
one of the questions it had raised.
p. 282
70
The Seventeenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) was held in
Moscow from January 26 to February 10, 1934. It discussed
the report of the Central Committee, C.P.S.U.(B.), the reports
of the Central Auditing Commission, of the Central Control
Commission and Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection, of the
C.P.S.U.(B.) delegation in the Executive Committee of the
Comintern, and reports on the Second Five-Year Plan and on
organisationaI questions (Party and Soviet affairs). On
J. V. Stalin’s report on the work of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
the congress adopted a decision in which it wholly approved
the political line and practical work of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
and instructed all Party organisations to be guided in their
work by the principles and tasks enunciated in J. V. Stalin’s
report. The congress noted the decisive successes of socialist
construction in the U.S.S.R. and declared that the general
NOTES
405
line of the Party had triumphed. The Seventeenth Congress
of the C.P.S.U.(B.) has gone down in the history of the Party
as the Congress of Victors. On the reports of V. M. Molotov
and V. V. Kuibyshev, the congress adopted a resolution on
“The Second Five-Year Plan of Development of the National
Economy of the U.S.S.R. (1933-1937)”—a plan for the building of socialist society, thereby endorsing the grand programme
for completing the technical reconstruction of the entire national economy, and for a still more rapid rise of the living
and cultural standards of the workers and peasants. The congress emphasised that the basic political task during the second
five-year plan period was the final elimination of capitalist
elements and the overcoming of the survivals of capitalism
in economic life and in the minds of people. On the report of
L. M. Kaganovich, the congress adopted decisions on organisational questions (Party and Soviet affairs). The congress
pointed out that the principal tasks of the Second Five-Year
Plan sharply raised the question of improving the quality of
work in all spheres, and first and foremost the quality of organisational and practical leadership. The congress adopted
new Party Rules. It replaced the Central Control Commission
and Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection by a Party Control
Commission under the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) and a Soviet Control
Commission under the Council of People’s Commissars of the
U.S.S.R. (On the Seventeenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) see
History of the C.P.S.U.(B.), Short Course, Moscow 1954, pp. 496503. For the resolutions and decisions of the congress, see Resolutions and Decisions of C.P.S.U. Congresses, Conferences and
Central Committee Plenums, Part II, 1953, pp. 744-87.) p. 288
71
In 1931 the proletariat and peasantry of Spain overthrew the
military-fascist dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera,
which had been set up in 1923, and abolished the monarchy.
On April 14, 1931, a republic was proclaimed in Spain. Owing,
however, to the political weakness and organisational disunity
of the proletariat and the treachery of the leadership of the
Socialist party and Anarchists, the bourgeoisie and landlords
were able to seize power, and a coalition government of
representatives of the bourgeois parties and the Socialists was
406
NOTES
formed. In spite of the attempts of the coalition government
to hold back the further development of the revolution, the
revolutionary mass battles of the workers and peasants against
the landlords and the bourgeoisie continued. With the general
strike and the armed struggle of the Asturian miners in October 1934 the revolutionary movement of this period reached its
peak.
p. 289
72
Councils of Action: Revolutionary organisations of workers
in Britain, France and other capitalist countries that took
part in military intervention against the Soviet Republic in
1918-20. The Councils of Action arose under the slogan of
“Hands off Soviet Russia!” Under the leadership of the Councils of Action, the workers organised strikes and demonstrations, and refused to load war equipment, with the aim of
bringing about the collapse of the intervention. The Councils
of Action were most widespread in Britain, in 1920.
p. 304
73
The Second Congress of the Communist International took
place on July 19-August 7, 1920. It opened in Petrograd the
subsequent sittings were held in Moscow. It was attended by
more than 200 delegates representing working-class organisations from 37 countries. V. I. Lenin directed all the preparatory work for convening the congress. At the congress Lenin
delivered a report on the international situation and the chief
tasks of the Communist International, as well as other reports
and speeches. V. I. Lenin and J. V. Stalin were elected by
the R.C.P.(B.) delegation to sit on the Executive Committee
of the Communist International. The Second Congress laid
the foundations of the programme, organisational principles
strategy and tactics of the Communist International.
p. 305
74
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 31, pp. 202-03.
p. 305
75
The Little Entente: a political alliance of Czechoslovakia,
Rumania and Yugoslavia lasting from 1920 to 1938. It was
under French influence and almost until the end of its existence it had the character of an anti-Soviet bloc. The bourgeois-landlord ruling circles of the countries that composed
NOTES
407
the Little Entente regarded it as a means of strengthening
their hold on the territories they had received under the Versailles Peace Treaty and as a weapon of struggle against revolution in Central Europe. The danger of aggression by German fascism and the growing international prestige of the
U.S.S.R. changed the attitude of the countries of the Little
Entente to the Soviet Union. In 1933 the countries of the Little
Entente along with other countries, joined with the U.S.S.R.
in signing a convention defining aggression, the draft submitted by the Soviet Union being taken as the basis of this
convention.
p. 307
76
V. I. Lenin, The Tax in Kind (see Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 32,
pp. 309-10).
p. 316
77
V. I. Lenin, Report Delivered at the Eighth Congress of the
R . C . P. ( B . ) o n Wo r k i n t h e C o u n t r y s i d e , M a r c h 2 3 , 1 9 1 9
(see Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 29, p. 190).
p. 332
78
The Fifteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) took place in
Moscow, December 2-19, 1927. On December 3, J. V. Stalin
delivered the political report of the Central Committee of the
C.P.S.U.(B.) and on December 7 he replied to the discussion.
The congress approved the political and organisational line
of the Party’s Central Committee and instructed it to continue to pursue a policy of peace and of strengthening the defence capacity of the U.S.S.R., to continue with unrelaxing
tempo the socialist industrialisation of the country, to develop
to the full the collectivisation of agriculture and to steer a
course towards eliminating the capitalist elements from the
national economy. In its decisions on the opposition the congress noted that the disagreements between the Party and the
opposition had developed into programmatic disagreements,
that the Trotskyist opposition had taken the path of antiSoviet struggle, and declared that adherence to the Trotskyist
opposition and the propagation of its views were incompatible
with membership of the Bolshevik Party. The congress approved
the decision of the joint meeting of the Central Committee
and Central Control Commission of the C.P.S.U.(B.) of November 14, 1927, to expel Trotsky and Zinoviev from the Party and
408
NOTES
decided to expel from the Party all active members of the
Trotsky-Zinoviev bloc and the whole “Democratic Centralism”
group. (On the Fifteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) see History of the C.P.S.U.(B.), Short Course, Moscow 1954, pp.
447-49. For the resolutions and decisions of the congress see
Resolutions and Decisions of C.P.S.U. Congresses, Conferences
and Central Committee Plenums, Part II, 1953, pp. 313-71.)
p. 354
79
The Seventeenth Conference of the C.P.S.U.(B.) took place
in Moscow, January 30-February 4, 1932. The conference was
directed by J. V. Stalin. It discussed G. K. Orjonikidze’s report
on the results of industrial development in 1931 and the tasks
for 1932, and the reports of V. M. Molotov and V. V. Kuibyshev on the directives for drawing up the Second Five-Year
Plan for the development of the national economy of the
U.S.S.R. in 1933-37. The conference noted that the decisions
of the Party congresses on the building and completion of the
foundations of a socialist economy and on securing economic
independence for the U.S.S.R. had been carried out with immense success. The conference approved the plan for the development of socialist industry in 1932, which ensured the fulfilment of the First Five-Year Plan in four years. In its directives
for the drawing up of the Second Five-Year Plan, the conference defined the chief political and economic tasks of that
plan, pointing out that its main and decisive economic task
was the completion of the reconstruction of the entire national economy on the basis of the most up-to-date technique.
(For the resolutions of the Seventeenth Conference of the
C.P.S.U.(B.), see Resolutions and Decisions of C.P.S.U. Congresses, Conferences and Central Committee Plenums, Part II,
1953, pp. 679-99.)
p. 356
80
See Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works, Vol. I,
Moscow 1955, p. 61.
p. 363
81
See Frederick Engels, Anti-Dühring, Moscow 1954, p. 149.
p. 363
82
See V. I. Lenin, Works, 4th Russ. ed., Vol. 29, p. 329.
p. 364
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
(July 1930—January 1934)
1930
July 2
J. V. Stalin at the Sixteenth Congress of the
C.P.S.U.(B.) replies to the discussion on the Political Report of the C.C. of the Party.
July 6
J. V. Stalin is present at the Dynamo Stadium
for the sports festival held in honour of the Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.).
July 10
T h e S i x t e e n t h C o n g r e s s o f t h e C . P. S . U . ( B . )
elects J. V. Stalin to the commission for the final
editing of the resolution on the report on the
collective-farm movement and the progress of
agriculture.
July 12
The Sixteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) elects
J. V. Stalin a member of the Central Committee
of the Party.
July 13
The plenum of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) elects
J. V. Stalin a member of the Political Bureau,
the Organising Bureau and the Secretariat of the
C.C. and appoints him General Secretary of the
Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.)
August 14
On the motion of J. V. Stalin, the Central Executive Committee and Council of People’s Commissars of the U.S.S.R. adopt a decision on “Universal Compulsory Elementary Education.”
410
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
August
J. V. Stalin writes his reply to Comrade Shatunovsky’s letter.
November 6
J. V. Stalin attends the celebration meeting of
the Moscow Soviet on the occasion of the thirteenth anniversary of the Great October Socialist
Revolution.
November 7
J. V. Stalin is present at the military parade of
the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of
the working people of the capital in the Red Square
in honour of the thirteenth anniversary of the
Great October Socialist Revolution.
November,
December 7
J. V. Stalin answers Comrade Ch.’s letters.
December 9
J. V. Stalin talks with members of the bureau of
the C.P.S.U.(B.) unit at the Institute of Red
Professors of Philosophy and Natural Science on
the situation at the philosophical front and the
tasks of the struggle on two fronts in philosophy,
and on the need for elaborating the theoretical
heritage of Lenin.
December 12
J. V. Stalin writes his reply to Demyan Bedny’s
letter.
December 17-21
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the joint plenum
of the C.C. and C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
December 24
J. V. Stalin, by decision of the Council of People’s
Commissars of the U.S.S.R., is appointed a member of the Council of Labour and Defence.
1931
January 4
J. V. Stalin attends the opening of the Third
Session of the Central Executive Committee of
the U.S.S.R., Fifth Convocation.
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
411
January 5-6
J. V. Stalin participates in the work of a conference held in the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) with railway transport personnel.
January 8
J. V. Stalin is elected an honorary member of the
Leningrad Soviet by the workers of the city’s
large enterprises.
January 12
J. V. Stalin writes an answer to the inquiry of
the Jewish News Agency in the U.S.A. about
the attitude in the U.S.S.R. to anti-Semitism.
January 16
J. V. Stalin attends the opening of the Ninth Congress of the All-Union Leninist Y.C.L. The congress
elects him to its honorary presidium.
January 21
J. V. Stalin attends the memorial meeting at the
Bolshoi Theatre to commemorate the seventh
anniversary of the death of V. I. Lenin.
January 23
J. V. Stalin is elected an honorary member of
the Moscow Soviet at meetings of the workers
of the capital’s large enterprises.
February 4
J. V. Stalin delivers his speech on “The Tasks
of Business Executives” at the First AII-Union Conference of Leading Personnel of Socialist Industry.
February 24
J. V. Stalin, at the Second Moscow Regional Congress of Soviets, is elected a delegate to the Fifteenth All-Russian and the Sixth All-Union Congresses of Soviets.
February 26March 5
J. V. Stalin takes part in the work of the Fifteenth All-Russian Congress of Soviets.
February 27
J. V. Stalin writes his answer to Comrade Etchin’s
letter.
412
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
March 5
J. V. Stalin, at the session of the Fifteenth AllRussian Congress of Soviets, is elected a member
of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
March 8-17
J. V. Stalin participates in the work of the Sixth
All-Union Congress of Soviets.
March 17
J. V. Stalin, at the session of the Sixth All-Union
Congress of Soviets, is elected a member of the
Union Soviet of the Central Executive Committee
of the U.S.S.R.
March 31
J. V. Stalin writes greetings to the workers and
the administrative and technical personnel of the
State Association of the Azerbaijanian Oil Industry and that of the Grozny Oil and Gas Industry in
connection with their fulfilment of the five-year
oil production plan in two and a half years. The
greetings are published in Pravda, No. 90, April
1, 1931.
April 3
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the workers and the administrative and technical personnel of Elektrozavod (Moscow) in connection with the factory’s
fulfilment of its five-year plan in two and a half
years are published in Pravda, No. 92.
May 1
J. V. Stalin is present at the May Day military
parade of the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of the working people of the capital in
the Red Square.
May 7, 14, 23
and 29 and
June 4
J. V. Stalin participates in the work of the commission for the drawing up of the draft decision
of the Political Bureau of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
on improving and expanding Moscow’s municipal
economy.
May 11 and 13
J. V. Stalin takes part in a conference of personnel of the coal industry, held in the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B).
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
413
May 19
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the workers and the
executive staff of the Magnitogorsk Iron and
Steel Works Project on the occasion of the completion of the construction and the commencement of
the exploitation of the powerful Magnitogorsk
mine are published in Pravda, No. 136.
May 28
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the workers, specialists and executive staff of the machine and tractor stations on the occasion of the pre-schedule
fulfilment of their sowing plan are published in
Pravda, No. 145.
May 30
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the workers, specialists
and executives of the state grain farms on the
occasion of the fulfilment of the sowing plan are
published in Pravda, No. 147.
June 11-15
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the plenum of
the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
June 22-23
J. V. Stalin takes part in the work of a conference
of business executives held under the auspices
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
June 23
J. V. Stalin delivers his speech, New Conditions—
New Tasks in Economic Construction at the conference of business executives held under the auspices of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
July 23
J. V. Stalin, at a meeting of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.)
attended by co-operative officials, delivers a speech
on questions of improving the work of the consumers’ co-operatives and of supplies for the working people in big industrial centres.
October 1
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the staff of the AMO
Works (Moscow) on the occasion of the completion of the building of the first gigantic automobile works in the U.S.S.R. and to the staff of
414
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
the Kharkov Tractor Works on the occasion of the
pre-schedule completion of its construction are published in Pravda, No. 271.
October 10
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the newspaper Tekhnika
on the occasion of its first appearance are published in Pravda, No. 280 and in Tekhnika, No. 1.
October 11
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and K. Y. Voroshilov pay a visit to A. M. Gorky, who reads them
one of his works, a fairy-tale called “The Girl
and Death.”
October 25
J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov, G. K. Orjonikidze
and L. M. Kaganovich meet in the Kremlin shock
brigaders of the Stalin Automobile Works (the
former AMO), who arrived on the first lorries.
and buses manufactured by the plant.
October 28-31
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the plenum of
the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
End of October J. V. Stalin’s letter to the editorial board of the
magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia on “Some Questions Concerning the History of Bolshevism” is
published in the magazine Bolshevik, Nos. 19-20
and in the magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia,
No. 6 (113).
November 3
J. V. Stalin and V. M. Molotov send a message of
greetings to the builders of the automobile works
in Nizhni-Novgorod on the occasion of the successful completion of the construction work. The greetings are published in Pravda, No. 305, November 4, 1931.
November 6
J. V. Stalin attends the celebration meeting of
the Moscow Soviet held in the Bolshoi Theatre
on the occasion of the fourteenth anniversary of
the Great October Socialist Revolution.
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
415
November 7
J. V. Stalin is present at the military parade of
the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of
the working people of the capital in the Red
Square in honour of the fourteenth anniversary
of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
November 25
J. V. Stalin, by decision of the Political Bureau
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.), is appointed a member
of the commission for preparing the draft resolution of the Seventeenth Conference of the
C.P.S.U.(B.), “Directives for Drawing up the
Second Five-Year Plan for the National Economy
of the U.S.S.R. (1933-1937).”
December 6
J. V. Stalin receives a group of Moscow writers
and talks with them on problems of literature.
December 13
J. V. Stalin has a talk with the German writer
Emil Ludwig.
December 22
J. V. Stalin attends the opening of the Second
Session of the Central Executive Committee of
the U.S.S.R., Sixth Convocation.
1932
January 2
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the staff of the Molotov
Automobile Works (Nizhni-Novgorod) in connection with the inauguration of the works are published in Pravda, No. 2.
January 4
J. V. Stalin writes greetings to the workers and
the executive staff of the Saratov Harvester Combine Works on the occasion of the completion of
the construction and the inauguration of the works.
The greetings are published in Pravda, No. 5,
January 5, 1932.
January 15
J. V. Stalin writes a reply to Olekhnovich with
reference to the letter “Some Questions Concern-
416
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
ing the History of Bolshevism” sent to the editorial board of the magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia. The reply was published in the magazine
Bolshevik, No. 16, August 30, 1932.
Before
January 21
J. V. Stalin takes part in the work of the commission of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) for preparing
the draft resolution “Directives for Drawing up
the Second Five-Year Plan for the National Economy of the U.S.S.R. (1933-1937).” The resolution
was adopted at the Seventeenth Conference of
the C.P.S.U.(B.) and endorsed by the plenum of
the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) on February 4, 1932.
January 21
J. V. Stalin attends the memorial meeting at the
Bolshoi Theatre to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the death of V. I. Lenin.
January 25
J. V. Stalin writes an answer to Aristov with reference to the letter “Some Questions Concerning
the History of Bolshevism” sent to the editorial
board of the magazine Proletarskaya Revolutsia.
The reply was published in the magazine Bolshevik, No. 16, August 30, 1932.
January 29
J. V. Stalin, at a joint plenum of the Leningrad
Regional and City Committees of the C.P.S.U.(B.),
is elected a delegate to the Seventeenth All-Union
Party Conference.
January 30
J. V. Stalin, at a joint plenum of the Moscow
Regional and City Committees of the C.P.S.U.(B.),
is elected a delegate to the Seventeenth All-Union
Party Conference.
January 30February 4
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the Seventeenth
Conference of the C.P.S.U.(B.).
February 4
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the plenum of the
C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
417
February 10April 1
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the commission
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) on questions of the production of goods for mass consumption.
March 29
J. V. Stalin writes a message of greetings to the
workers and the administrative and technical personnel of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works
Project on the occasion of the inauguration and
mastering the technique of the giant blast furnace, the first of its kind in the U.S.S.R. and
Europe. The greetings are published in Pravda,
No. 89, March 30, 1932.
April 7
J. V. Stalin’s article, “The Importance and Tasks
of the Complaints Bureaus,” is published in Pravda, No. 97.
April 20
J. V. Stalin attends the opening in the Bolshoi
Theatre of the Ninth All-Union Congress of Trade
Unions. The congress elects J. V. Stalin to its
honorary presidium.
April 23
J. V. Stalin is made a member of the commission
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) on the irrigation of
the Trans-Volga area.
April 2
The decision, adopted on J. V. Stalin’s initiative,
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) on the reconstruction
of literary and art organisations and the creation
of a single Union of Soviet Writers is published
in Pravda, No. 114.
May 1
J. V. Stalin is present at the May Day military
parade of the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of the working people of the capital in
the Red Square.
May 2
J. V. Stalin together with other leaders of the
Party and the Government receives in the Kremlin participants in the May Day parade.
418
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
May 3
J. V. Stalin replies to questions of Ralph V. Barnes.
May 8
J. V. Stalin, by decision of the Political Bureau
of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.), is made a member of
the commission on checking fulfilment of the decisions of the central bodies relating to the production of goods for mass consumption.
May 23
The decision of the Council of People’s Commissars, U.S.S.R. and the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) of May
22, 1932, on “The Fight against Drought and the
Irrigation of the Trans-Volga Area,” signed by
J. V. Stalin and V. M. Molotov, is published in
Pravda, No. 141.
May 24
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the men and women
shock brigaders, the technical personnel and the executive staff of the Kuznetsk Iron and Steel Works
for having achieved high records of pig iron output
and Bolshevik tempos in mastering the most up-todate technique are published in Pravda, No. 142.
J. V. Stalin is present at the sports parade in the
Red Square, Moscow.
July 8
J. V. Stalin writes a message of greetings to the
Seventh All-Union Conference of the All-Union
Leninist Y.C.L. The greetings are published in
Pravda, No. 188, July 9, 1932.
August 8
The law on “Protection of the Property of State
Enterprises, Collective Farms and Co-operatives
and the Consolidation of Public (Socialist) Property,” written by J . V. Stalin and adopted on
August 7 by the Central Executive Committee
and the Council of People’s Commissars of the
U.S.S.R., is published in Pravda, No. 218.
September 4
J. V. Stalin is present at the demonstration of
working youth in the Red Square, Moscow, held in
honour of the eighteenth International Youth Day.
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
September 25
419
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to A. M. Gorky on the
occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Gorky’s
literary and revolutionary activity are published in Pravda, No. 266.
J. V. Stalin attends the ceremonial meeting in
the Bolshoi Theatre devoted to the fortieth anniversary of A. M. Gorky’s literary and revolutionary activity.
September 28October 2
J. V. Stalin directs the work of a plenum of the
C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
October 7
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and K. Y. Voroshilov
have a talk in A. M. Gorky’s apartment with a
group of scientists organising a U.S.S.R. Institute
of Experimental Medicine.
October 10
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the workers and managers of the Dnieper Hydro-Electric Power Station
on the occasion of the successful completion of
the construction and pre-schedule inauguration
of the station are published in Pravda, No. 281.
October 14
The greetings of J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and
K. Y. Voroshilov to the participants in the Arctic
expedition on the ice-breaker Sibiryakov, which
crossed the Arctic Ocean in a single journey, are
published in Pravda, No. 285.
October 26
J. V. Stalin talks with a group of writers at
A. M. Gorky’s apartment. It was during this
talk that J. V. Stalin called writers “engineers of
human souls.”
November 6
J. V. Stalin attends the celebration meeting of
the Moscow Soviet held in the Bolshoi Theatre
on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of
the Great October Socialist Revolution.
420
November 7
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
J. V. Stalin is present at the military parade of
the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of
the working people of the capital in the Red
Square in honour of the fifteenth anniversary
of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to Leningrad on the fifteenth anniversary of the establishment of Soviet
power are published in Pravda, No. 309.
Night of Nomember 8
Death of N. S. Alliluyeva-Stalina, J. V. Stalin’s
wife and close comrade.
November 11
J. V. Stalin accompanies the bier of N. S. Alliluyeva-Stalina to the Novodevichye cemetery.
November 18
In a letter published in Pravda, No. 318, J. V. Stalin
thanks the organisations, institutions, friends and
comrades who expressed their condolences on
the occasion of the death of N. S. Alliluyeva-Stalina.
November 23
J. V. Stalin writes his article “Mr. Campbell
Stretches the Truth.” The article was published in
the magazine Bolshevik, No. 22, November 30, 1932.
December 20
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the officials and troops
of the OGPU on lhe occasion of its fifteenth anniversary are published in Pravda, No. 350.
1933
January 7-12
J. V. Stalin directs the work of a joint plenum
of the C.C. and C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
January 7
J. V. Stalin delivers a report on “Results of the
First Five-Year Plan” at the joint plenum of the
C.C. and C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
January 11
421
J. V. Stalin delivers a speech on “Work in the
Countryside” at the joint plenum of the C.C. and
C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.).
On the proposal of J. V. Stalin, the joint plenum
of the C.C. and C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) adopts a
decision to organise Political Departments of the
machine and tractor stations and state farms and
to send 17,000 Party workers to the countryside.
January 21
J. V. Stalin attends the memorial meeting at the
Bolshoi Theatre to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the death of V. I. Lenin.
January 23
J. V. Stalin attends the opening of the Third Session of the C.E.C. of the U.S.S.R., Sixth Convocation.
January 26
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the magazine Rabotnitsa
on the occasion of its tenth anniversary are published in Pravda, No. 25.
February 2
J. V. Stalin delivers a speech at the All-Union
Conference of the Leninist Young Communist
League on the practical tasks of the Y.C.L. in
connection with the spring sowing.
February 15-59
J. V. Stalin takes part in the work of the First
All-Union Congress of Collective-Farm Shock
Brigaders.
February 16
J. V. Stalin writes a letter to Comrade I. N. Bazhanov.
February 19
J. V. Stalin delivers a speech at the First AllUnion Congress of Collective-Farm Shock Brigaders
February 23
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the Red Army on the
occasion of its fifteenth anniversary are published in Pravda, No. 53.
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BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
J. V. Stalin attends the celebration meeting at
the Bolshoi Theatre on the occasion of the fifteenth
anniversary of the Red Army.
March 14
J. V. Stalin attends at the Bolshoi Theatre the
meeting of the C.C. and C.C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.),
the Central Executive Committee and Council of
People’s Commissars of the U.S.S.R., the Executive Committee of the Comintern and the Moscow Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.), held in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the
death of Karl Marx.
FROM MARX
TO MAO
March 20
J. V. Stalin writes an answer to the letter of
Mr. Barnes.
March 30
The greetings of J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and
K. Y. Voroshilov to the participants in the expedition sent to rescue the ice-breaker Malygin are
published in Pravda, No. 88.
April 17
NOT FOR
COMMERCIAL
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, K. Y. Voroshilov,
and A. I. Mikoyan wire congratulations to the
participants in the expedition of the ice-breaker
Krassin on the occasion of the successful completion of its Arctic cruise and its pre-schedule fulfilment of the government’s assignment to render
aid to the Arctic workers and population of the
island of Novaya Zemlya. The telegram is published in Pravda, No. 106.
DISTRIBUTION
April 26
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to Comrade S. M. Budyonny on his fiftieth birthday are published in
Pravda, No. 115.
May 1
J. V. Stalin is present at the May Day military
parade of the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of the working people of the capital in
the Red Square.
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
423
May 2
J. V. Stalin, together with other leaders of the
Party and the Government, receives in the Kremlin participants in the May Day parade.
May 13
J. V. Stalin has a talk with Colonel Robins.
May 25
J. V. Stalin attends the final concert of the First
All-Union Musicians’ Contest held in the Large
Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire.
May 26
J. V. Stalin together with other leaders of the
Party and the Government receives in the Kremlin the young prize-winners of the First All-Union
Musicians’ Contest.
June 12
J. V. Stalin is present at the sports parade in the
Red Square in Moscow.
June 22
J. V. Stalin attends the funeral of Klara Zetkin
in the Red Square in Moscow.
June 29
J. V. Stalin, together with V. M. Molotov, K. Y. Voroshilov and G. K. Orjonikidze, visits the art
e x h i b i t i o n “ F i f t e e n Ye a r s o f t h e Wo r k e r s ’
and Peasants’ Red Army.”
July 14
J. V. Stalin takes part in the meeting of the commission of the C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) on organisational questions of heavy industry.
July 18
J. V. Stalin and K. Y. Voroshilov arrive in Leningrad and on the same day, together with S. M. Kirov, leave on the S.S. Anokhin for a journey
through the White Sea-Baltic Canal.
July 18-25
J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Kirov
make a journey on the White Sea-Baltic Canal,
acquaint themselves with its hydraulic installations and visit the port of Soroka, the Murmansk
Port and Polar Bay.
424
July 21
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Kirov
in the area of Soroka Port meet a squadron of
warships belonging to the Northern Fleet which
had crossed from the Baltic to the White Sea
via the canal.
J. V. Stalin addresses a meeting of Red Navy men
on the tasks of the Northern Fleet. After the meeting J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Kirov visit the destroyer Uritsky and a submarine.
July 22
J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Kirov
arrive at Murmansk and inspect its port and Polar Bay.
July 25
J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Kirov
on their return to Leningrad inspect the port.
The same day J. V. Stalin and K. Y. Voroshilov
leave for Moscow.
August 6
J. V. Stalin has a talk with aeronautical designers
about new hydroplanes.
August 8
J. V. Stalin talks with a group of leading personnel of the Stalin Automobile Works and gives
them instructions to master the production of
passenger cars.
August 10
J. V. Stalin receives in the Kremlin a group of
officials of the Moscow Soviet and talks with
them about the improvement of road construction
in Moscow, Moscow’s river embankments and
the organisation of work at construction sites.
August 20-23
J. V. Stalin and K. Y. Voroshilov take a trip on
the S.S. Klara Zetkin from Gorky to Stalingrad.
August 23-24
J. V. Stalin, K. Y. Voroshilov and S. M. Budyonny visit the Budyonny Stud Farm in the Salsk
steppes (Rostov Region).
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
October 3
425
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, K. Y. Voroshilov
and L. M. Kaganovich congratulate the crew of
the stratostat U.S.S.R. on fulfilling the government’s assignment regarding the conquest and
study of the stratosphere. The congratulations are
published in Pravda, No. 273.
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, K. Y. Voroshilov
and L. M. Kaganovich greet the participants in
the Moscow—Kara Kum—Moscow automobile race.
The greetings are published in Pravda, No. 273.
October 17
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, K. Y. Voroshilov
and L. M. Kaganovich congratulate the Soviet
salvage engineering experts on their success in
raising the ice-breaker Sadko from the bottom of
the sea in the Arctic zone. The congratulations
are published in Pravda, No. 287.
October 29
Stalin’s greetings to the All-Union Leninist Young
Communist League on its fifteenth anniversary
are published in Pravda, No. 299.
November 6
J. V. Stalin attends the celebration meeting of
the Moscow Soviet held in the Bolshoi Theatre
on the occasion of the sixteenth anniversary of
the Great October Socialist Revolution.
November 7
J. V. Stalin is present at the military parade of
the Moscow Garrison and the demonstration of
the working people of the capital in the Red
Square in honour of the sixteenth anniversary of
the Great October Socialist Revolution.
November 9
J. V. Stalin attends the funeral of Sen-Katayama,
leader of the Communist Party of Japan, in the
Red Square, Moscow.
November 20
J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, M. I. Kalinin, and
L. M. Kaganovich receive a delegation of collec-
426
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
November 29
tive-farm shock brigaders from the Odessa Region
and talk with them on questions of collectivefarm work.
December 23
J. V. Stalin talks with a group of architects who
have produced designs for the Palace of Soviets.
J. V. Stalin and L. M. Kaganovich receive a delegation of collective-farm shock brigaders from
the Dniepropetrovsk Region and talk with them
on questions of collective-farm development
and the supply of manufactured goods to the
countryside.
J. V. Stalin attends the celebration meeting in
the Bolshoi Theatre held in honour of the fifteenth
anniversary of the Central Aero-Hydrodynamic
Institute (TSAGI).
December 25
J . V. S t a l i n h a s a t a l k w i t h t h e N e w Yo r k
Times correspondent, Mr. Duranty.
December 28
J. V. Stalin is present at the opening of the Fourth
Session of the Central Executive Committee of
the U.S.S.R., Sixth Convocation.
Before
December 29
J. V. Stalin examines and edits the theses of the
reports of Comrades Molotov and Kuibyshev on
“The Second Five-Year Plan of Development of the
National Economy of the U.S.S.R. (1933-1937)”
to the Seventeenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.).
The theses are published in Pravda, No. 359,
December 30, 1933.
1934
January 18
J. V. Stalin’s greetings to the students, teachers
and executives of the Red Banner Frunze Military
Academy of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red
BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE
427
Army in connection with the Academy’s fifteenth
anniversary and the award to it of the Order of
Lenin are published in Pravda, No. 18.
January 21
J. V. Stalin attends the memorial meeting at the
Bolshoi Theatre to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of V. I. Lenin.
January 23
J. V. Stalin is elected a delegate to the Seventeenth Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) by the Leningrad Joint Fifth Regional and Second City Party
Conference.
January 24
J. V. Stalin is elected a delegate to the Seventeenth
Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.) by the Moscow Joint
Fourth Regional and Third City Party Conference.
January 26February 10
J. V. Stalin directs the work of the Seventeenth
Congress of the C.P.S.U.(B.).
January 26
J. V. Stalin delivers the report on the work of the
C.C., C.P.S.U.(B.) at the Seventeenth Party Congress.
January 31
J. V. Stalin speaks at the Seventeenth Congress
of the C.P.S.U.(B.): “Instead of a Reply to the
Discussion.”
J. V. Stalin is present at the demonstration of
the working people of the capital in the Red Square
in honour of the Seventeenth Congress of
the C.P.S.U.(B.).
Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics